


When John and Cam met the Last Slayer

by MillieMae



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, Supernatural
Genre: Alternate SG-1, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Vampire Slayer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer References, F/M, M/M, Multi, References to Supernatural (TV), Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-17
Updated: 2014-10-17
Packaged: 2018-02-21 13:25:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 42,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2469842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MillieMae/pseuds/MillieMae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John Sheppard didn't go to Atlantis on the first wave, instead he joined his old flyboy friend Cameron Mitchell on SG-1. After the defeat of the Ori their team are officially down to two members and on indefinite downtime. Before they drive him completely insane Jack recruits his goddaughter, the last living Slayer. </p>
<p>There are BTVS references but this Slayer is an OFC. There are mentions of character deaths from both Buffy and Supernatural.</p>
<p>This is the first piece of fanfic I ever wrote, and I still secretly harbour a little soft spot for it and the characters ;-) Seeing as I currently have distressing writers block when it comes to my most recent fics I thought I'd relax my brain and put this up. I can definitely see the difference in my writing but I've managed to resist the urge to edit so here it is in all it's glory, warts and all!</p>
<p>So I have just discovered that I uploaded Chapter 4 twice, hence the original Chapter 5 being missing, idiot, lol! I have updated now so hopefully this fic will make slightly more sense, possibly ;-) Apologies to those who had already visited and read!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Laney Jacobs swung her axe and watched the head of the last demon who stood her before slide from it's body. She breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look for her sister. Her gaze swept over the piles of the fallen, their twisted and ugly bodies even more so in death. Her sharp eyes fell upon a pale hand, the silver band on it's middle finger glinting in the pale light of dawn. Laney wrenched a demon with black skin and red eyes away from her sister. It was dead, fallen upon Angie's sword. She knelt down, her jeans soaking up blood.

"Ange" she whispered. She touched the side of her sister's throat. "Oh Angie"

Swallowing she slid her arms beneath her sisters body and lifted her away from the slain. Laney walked through the archway that she and her sister had been defending. Stepping over bodies and sliding in their blood she made her way to the Great Hall.

The five longest surviving, and most powerful, of the Slayers were there. They were the first line of defence.

Laney smelt it first. Blood, evil and pure, combining in sickly sweet. Then sweat, fear, adrenaline. And as she drew closer, urine, faeces. 

She swallowed again and paused, clasping her sister to her chest. Closing her eyes she strained for sound. But there was none. Laney lay her sister outside of the hall, finding a spot that was slightly freer of blood. She slowly stepped inside.

The bodies of their enemies were piled higher here, a testament to the skill of those who had fought them.

Laney scrambled over them, tossing them to one side, sobbing out names. She slid on blood and went down, slamming her head on the floor. She lay there stunned for a moment then pushed herself up. Closing her eyes she opened up her other senses. This was how she'd been taught to track, to hunt.

She had lost count of the number of punches to the face she'd taken whilst Faith taught her how to fight blind.

"I have a scent Laney, I disturb the air, I breath, I move. Follow me"

It was her tutor, and closest friend, she found first. Faith did have a scent. Tobacco, strawberry shampoo and leather. Except now it was undercut with urine. When Faith's neck had been snapped her body had emptied itself. She carried Faith to her sister and returned to the hall.

When she finally carried Buffy out she knew she wouldn't find anybody alive.

 

Laney wasn't sure how long she had been here. She was certain there had been times of darkness and of light.

She had found a field where only a few demons lay dead. It had poppies and daisies growing in it. Ridding it of the demon bodies she went looking for a shovel. She had used three of the five she had found before she was done.

Looking out over the field 134 graves looked back at her. 134 silver rings weighed heavy in the weapons bag at her feet.

"What am I going to do now?" she whispered.

No one answered.

 

Jack opened his door. He nearly didn't recognise her, she was covered in old blood that even the rain couldn't wash away, her jaw was swollen, her right eye blackened and closed. He could smell sweat and death, he swallowed, and sewerage.

"Jack" She whispered.

"Shit, come here honey"

He grabbed her bag and dropped it on the floor, pulling her into a hug. He tried to close his nostrils.

She huffed against his chest "Jack, I smell bad"

"Yeah, I know hon"

"They're all gone Jack"

He tightened his arms.

 

The first time Colonel Cameron Mitchell and Lt Colonel John Sheppard met Laney Jacobs they didn't know her name. They didn't know why she was there, curled into a chair next to General Jack O'Neill, while he briefed them on their following days mission. She didn't speak, didn't look up from the book she was studying, except to smile her thanks at Jackson when he placed a coffee in front of her. They noticed the angry bruises around her throat and along her jaw, the line of stitches across the top of her eye. And when she wrapped her hands around the mug of coffee they noticed the cuts and grazes.

As they walked down the hall after being dismissed Cameron murmured "Know the girl?"

"Nope"

"Must of hurt like a son of a bitch"

"Yep"

"You're a man of many words Sheppard"

"Yep"

 

It had been four weeks since Vala had evaded them and disappeared whilst off-world. They'd known she was getting itchy feet again but it hurt that she hadn't said goodbye. Teal'c had left two weeks later to spend time with his people and sit in on their council. Daniel Jackson was officially banned from going off-world for the foreseeable future, General O'Neill tiring off his habit of frequently going missing and/or dying.

They were a team of two which meant no going through the gate. They were bored out of their minds already.

 

As Colonel Mitchell walked into the briefing room he was surprised to see the girl from their meeting three weeks ago. She wasn't curled into herself now, her feet were propped up on the table, hands laced together behind her head, lounging back in her chair. He couldn't see a trace of her injuries.

"You've healed well…and fast"

Her eyes snapped open and she grinned at him "Vitamin E cream and good genes" Her voice was surprisingly deep, a little rough.

"Uh huh" he said doubtfully.

"I'm Laney" Another smile.

"Colonel Cameron Mitchell"

"That's rather a mouthful Colonel. Do you prefer your rank or your name?"

His eyebrows raised "Mitchell will do for now"

She nodded.

"So Laney, do you know why we're here"

She shrugged "Jack calls, I come"

He snorted. Then turned as the door opened. "Sheppard"

"Mitchell. Any idea why I'm here"

"Didn't your Dad explain the birds and the bees to you Shep?"

Laney quirked a smile "And funny too"

Sheppard looked at her "Why do I get the feeling this is going to get really interesting, really fast"

"I think I'm offended"

Sheppard smiled at her and sat down "What we waiting for?"

"Me"

"Good morning Sir"

"Colonels. Laney"

"Hey Jack" Both men raised their eyebrows at the informality.

General O'Neill moved to sit at the end of the table "Laney feet"

She rolled her eyes and swung her legs off the table. "Thank you"

"Oh, my pleasure"

Jack glared at her. Then he cleared his throat.

"You've been called here today because, in your own special and unique way, each one of you is driving me batshit crazy. You're all bored, restless and terrible at finding your own entertainment that doesn't involve a crap load of paperwork for me. Most of it being letters of apology"

Laney snorted. Jack pointed at her "Laugh it up Jacobs but you're the worst"

She smiled "Sorry Jack"

"No you're not"

"I'm trying to be"

"Shut up"

Sheppard coughed "Uh Sir?"

"Right, sorry" Jack glared at the young woman. She smiled back at him.

"Colonel Mitchell, as you know you can't go off-world as a team of two, and your efforts at recruiting more personnel for SG-1 suck"

Mitchell frowned "I'm trying Sir. It just appears that you can become too infamous for your own good"

"No you can't Colonel. You can just get captured and/or shot at too much for your own good. No one is insane enough to go through the gate with you. And thats saying something because this is the SGC"

Sheppard looked at Laney "Um, Sir, are you saying that.." he gestured towards her.

"Yes Sheppard"

"Really"

"Yes"

"Uh, are you sure Sir"

"Hey!" Laney glared at the two men opposite her "I'm not exactly thrilled with the offer either. It sounds like I'd be spending most of my time saving your arse's"

Mitchell snorted "Don't think so Princess. I'm not sure we even have uniforms that'd fit you"

"Princess?! And are you calling me little?"

Mitchell smirked at her "Petite"

She narrowed her eyes "Size isn't everything Colonel" 

Sheppard coughed back a laugh.

"That's enough, both of you" Jack rubbed his temples.

"Sorry Sir"

He looked at Laney "I'm not sorry, the mans an arse"

"For fuck's sake Lane, behave yourself"

"I'm not military Jack, I'm here because you asked me to be. If I'm pissing you off I'll leave. There's still 'work' for me out there" She vaguely gestured up.

"On your own?"

"That's how it used to be done"

"Yeah, and it worked out so well for all the others"

She hissed her breath inwards.

"Um General"

"Sheppard"

"With all due respect Sir, could you please tell us what the hell you're both talking about"

Jack looked at the young woman "Laney?"

She waved a hand at him "Go ahead. I got bored of the spiel after about the hundredth time"

He sighed and looked over at the two men. "Laney is a Slayer"

"Slayer"

"Yes Mitchell. Their existence has been a closely guarded secret for hundreds of years. They are still only myths even amongst some of the things they hunt"

"Hunt"

"Stop interrupting Mitchell"

"Sorry Sir"

"Slayers are always female. Chosen at birth, their powers mature at fifteen years of age. For many centuries there would be only one Slayer at any given time. When she died the next would be called"

"Harsh system"

Jack looked at Sheppard. "Yeah it really sucked. But ten years ago the rules changed, every chosen one who was aged fifteen received her powers. Since then no new Slayers have been chosen or called, even upon the death of another. The general belief was that nature was asserting itself, trying to correct the balance. But then it was discovered that the Slayer line had become a blood line. A girl born to a Slayer would become one. Only two children have been born into the line since then, both are boys" 

He snuck Laney a concerned look but she seemed unmoved, idly twirling a stray strand of hair round her finger "Four weeks ago every Slayer was recalled, news of an imminent threat causing them to gather at one location. The battle was won but..." Jack paused, licking his lips.

"They all died, apart from me"

The two men looked at her and she met their gaze "I'm the last surviving Slayer"

Mitchell blinked "Shit. I'm still confused as hell but, I'm sorry"

"Don't be, you didn't kill them"

There was an awkward pause.

Sheppard cleared his throat "So what exactly does 'powers' mean?"

Laney ticked off her fingers "Strength, speed, stamina, heightened senses, high pain threshold, fast healing all thrown in with a high probability of dying before you hit your twenties"

"And how old are you?"

"Twenty-five"

"Right… shit"

 

Leaving his god-daughter curled on the sofa watching Scooby-Doo reruns and working her way through his brownie stash, Jack drove over to Cameron and John's apartment.

"Mitchell"

"Um, Sir, is everything ok?"

"Can I come in Cam?"

Mitchell raised his brows "Of course Sir"

Jack waved a hand at him as he walked in. "Drop the sir Cameron. Got any beer?"

"Um, sure S..Jack"

Sheppard scrambled off the sofa "Sir?"

"For fuck's sake sit down John. And it's Jack"

Sheppard frowned, then nodded "Ok"

"Sit John, you're making me nervous"

"I'M making YOU nervous"

Jack laughed and took the beer he was offered "Thank you Cameron"

He took a seat in a recliner and looked at the two men. "You don't believe me about Laney, about the Slayers?"

"Of course we do Si…Jack"

"Then you think I've finally lost it and she's brainwashed me to gain access to the SGC?"

"What?! No Si…Jack. Shit"

"Then what is it? She could be a valuable asset to your team guys" Jack scrubbed his chin "Wish we'd had her on board for the whole Ori fuck up. She'd have laughed in their faces and then found new and exciting ways to kill them"

Mitchell cleared his throat "It's not that we don't believe you S..Jack"

Jack rolled his eyes.

"It's just kind of hard to, you know, um, picture it"

"Picture what"

"Well she's so, well.."

"Petite" John smirked at him.

"Shut up Shep"

"I'm pretty sure you've encountered pretty young things that could take you down before Cameron" Jack pointed at John "What was the name of that chieftains daughter, um Kaylee, Kristen?"

John snorted "Kahlan. And she totally whaled on you Cam"

Cam flipped him the finger.

"Yeah, that was it" Jack grinned at him. Then his expression turned serious. "Look, I don't blame you, when she first told me I laughed at her, a lot. Then she held my kitchen table over my head with one hand until I apologised. There's nothing like being threatened with your own furniture by your fifteen year old god-daughter to make you believe in shit. That was ten years ago and the longer a Slayer lives the stronger she gets"

"So what, now she can threaten you with your three piece suite?"

"Don't be a smart arse Cameron"

"Sorry Sir"

Jack glared at him "Sorry Jack"

"So she was the oldest at this fight? The most powerful. That's how she survived?" asked John.

Jack sighed "No. There were others stronger than her. They were the first line of defence. Five of them, including Laney's trainer and best friend"

"Shit"

"Yeah. Laney was on the second wave, which also included her sister, Angie"

"She lost her sister too?"

"Yeah" Jack swallowed the rest of his beer "She spent two days there, from what I can work out, burying her friends and her sister. Then she knocks on my door covered in the blood, piss and shit of pretty much everyone she ever knew, uses all my hot water, demands I open my best whiskey and tells me calmly and cooly what happened. She's tough, they all are" Jack closed his eyes "Were. They were chosen because someone recognised in them the ability to cope, to move on, to keep going. Slayers see and do things that would have the toughest marine fucking calling for his Mommy"

"Fuck Jack"

He nodded "I met their leader once, Buffy, ridiculous name. Suited her though, all little and blonde. She was a cheerleader in high school, fit practice around decapitating vampires. Gave a stirring speech about never giving up. Even when you were broken and bleeding, when your friends were dead, when your best weapons had failed you. Kinda sums up the whole Slayer mentality"

Jack levelled his gaze at the two men "You win her trust she'll go to hell and back for you. And when you're talking about a slayer that's one hell of a gift"

Cameron sighed "Are you sure she's ready?"

"Yes"

"Ok"

John walked Jack to the door "How many" he murmured.

"One hundred and thirty four"

 

Lt Col Sheppard and Col Mitchell strolled into the gate room scanning for the newest member of their team. They spotted her across the room, head tilted up, listening intently to something Jackson was saying.

Mitchell elbowed the man standing next to him "You see her pretty much every day Shep" He kept his voice low, he'd already discovered just how good her hearing was. And gotten a dressing down for his trouble.

Sheppard rolled his eyes and whispered back "She looks different today"

Mitchell studied her. "Hmm. More um…"

"Tense" finished John.

"Yeah, shit" Mitchell hoped this wasn't a sign it was all going to go to hell. 

They'd been going off-world together for nearly four months now and he'd been pleasantly surprised. Apart from a few smart arse comments Laney had kept her head down and done as she was told. She'd fit in well and quickly adapted to how they worked. Of course, he pondered, they hadn't run into any trouble yet. The defeat of the Ori seemed to have left a quiet calm resting over the galaxy. He couldn't see the potential for any danger in their mission today either. They were heading out to meet with Teal'c and check in with the free Jaffa. It was an overnight trip, the council expecting them to stay for the evening meal and following festivities. It was the anniversary of the death of Apophis.

He watched her finish her talk with Jackson and saunter over to them. "Good Morning Colonels" Her voice still surprised him sometimes.

"Morning Princess"

She scowled at him "Stop calling me that or I'll punch you in the face"

"Haven't done it yet Princess"

John snorted. "Just make sure I'm around when you do Lane"

She smiled up at him "It would be my pleasure"

Mitchell rolled his eyes "Where's your pack?"

She toed a duffle by her feet.

"That's not a pack Laney"

"And I'm not a giant Mitchell. They hit the back of my legs and make walking difficult"

He grinned at her "What happened to Slayer power?"

"I don't remember listing 'ability to make myself 6ft tall' on my CV"

"Well, aren't you on fine form today"

She glared at him and swung her duffle up, sliding the straps over both shoulders. As she walked to the foot of the ramp the two men exchanged a look.

Stepping through the gate they started the short walk to the Jaffa settlement. Laney behind them, eyes hidden by her aviators.

"I'm tense because it's an overnight mission"

They stopped walking. "What did I tell you about eavesdropping?"

"I don't eavesdrop. I scan for information"

Mitchell snorted.

"Why is an overnight mission making you tense Lane?" Sheppard looked at her over his shades.

She sighed "We haven't spent the night together yet" She pointed at Sheppard "Don't say it"

He grinned at her. Mitchell smacked him round the head "Hey!"

"You were saying Princess"

She shifted on her feet. "I um, get nightmares. They're getting better but this is somewhere new" She exhaled "I don't want you to worry if I cry out in the night, and you mustn't come to check on me"

Mitchell's eyebrows rose "Why not"

"Because I'm a Slayer and I don't want to accidentally kill my CO in my sleep"

"That bad huh?"

She shrugged "Sometimes"

"We can't just leave you to it Laney"

"You have to, promise me?"

Mitchell sighed "Fine. But if you manage to wake yourself up will you let us know you're ok?"

She nodded.

"And our tent goes in front of yours"

She scowled. "I mean it Princess"

"Fine"

 

John Sheppard slammed upright in his tent, reaching for his gun.

"Easy Shep, it's just our girl"

He ran a shaky hand through his hair, remembering the scream that had woken him "Shit"

"Yeah I know"

"Think we should go to her"

"As much as I hate it, no. We promised. And I don't much fancy having my neck snapped by a sleeping Slayer"

"Right" He gave a weak laugh "This sucks"

"Yeah"

They sat in silence, ears straining for any other noise. Eventually her voice drifted through their tent.

"I'm fine"

"Sure Princess"

"Stop calling me that"

"Nope"

 

Laney sat in her tent, trying to slow her heartbeat and stop the shaking. Shit, that one was bad. She tried to blink away the images of her sister and their friends pushing their way from their graves, reaching for her with decaying hands. She could even smell them. She willed herself not to vomit.

She should have died with them, that's what they were saying. Showing her every time she slept. Part of her wished she had. Laney knew that's why she was here, on a different planet with two of Jack's most trusted men. He didn't trust her out there alone.

Sometimes they would punish her for leaving them there, in the place they had died so horribly. A place where only she could go. After those dreams woke her she would try to reassure herself that they lay at peace, in a beautiful field of poppies and daisies, that saw both the rise and the fall of the sun. A Slayer revelled in the light, knowing the things that lurked in the dark.

Waiting until she heard the steady breathing of the two men across from her she silently stepped from her tent and made her way towards the nearest fire.

"Laney Jacobs"

She jumped, her nerves were shot to shit. She hadn't even sensed him.

"Teal'c I'm sorry. I didn't realise anyone else was here. I'll move on"

"You are not disturbing me Slayer. Please" He gestured to the cushion next to him.

Nodding her thanks she sat, wrapping her arms around her bent legs.

"I heard your cries, are you ok?"

"Yeah, sometimes sleep isn't so inviting after y'know?"

"I understand Laney Jacobs. I too suffered from many disturbing visions when I first left the service of the false God Apophis. They can be unsettling"

"That's one word for them Teal'c"

He handed her a cup of steaming liquid. "What do you see Slayer?"

She raised her eyebrows at him. He looked at her, matching her brow raise.

"Them" she whispered "They hate me for living, for leaving them there. My sister says.." she swallowed "things"

He nodded.

"Tonight they crawled out of their graves. They were rotting, stinking, hissing my name. Reaching out for me. I kept cutting them down and they just kept coming. Forcing me to kill them again and again" A tear escaped and she swore, swiping it away.

He rested his hand on her arm "General O'Neill once gave me a name for this Slayer, he called it Survivors Guilt. You are a warrior; loyal, proud and honourable. Every instinct in you tells you that you should have fallen with your friends, your sister. You should have given your life as they did theirs. This can never be realised, the battle can never be re-fought and you must learn to accept this. They will haunt you until you do and I am sure that they would not desire for you to suffer this way"

She nodded "I shall try"

"Then you shall succeed"

Laney finished her drink in silence, it's warmth spreading through until she gave a surprised yawn. She looked at the man next to her "Do you still dream of him Teal'c?"

"Sometimes. But I no longer fear him"

"And the ones you lost"

"I remember them how I wish to. Their memory is precious"

"Thank you. I wish you happy dreams Teal'c"

"As I do you Slayer"

As she moved away from the fire she heard him speak again "Let them come to you Laney Jacobs. You cannot hurt them, not even when you dream"

She didn't reply.

 

Laney dropped her bag in the hall and called out "Honey, I'm home"

"I'm pretty sure that's an inappropriate cliche for your godfather"

She grinned "Hey Pops, I'm home"

"Funny girl"

She made her way into the kitchen where Jack was drinking coffee and reading a paper.

"Ooh coffee?"

He pointed to the pot on the side.

"You are a God"

He looked at her "Perhaps you could inform the personnel of the SGC of this fact? It would save an awful lot of meetings"

She snorted "People not obeying orders, Great One?"

He rolled his eyes "I'm beginning to get the feeling I'm just there to make the place look pretty"

She snorted again and sipped her coffee. "Mmmm"

"How was your first overnight trip?"

"Great, up until I scared the crap out of the rest of my team by screaming in my sleep"

He frowned "I thought they were getting better hon?"

She sighed "New place, new people. It seems I need your guest bed to sleep well at night. And don't worry I pre-warned the guys. They kept their promise and stayed well away"

Jack looked at her "Why do they have to stay away?"

"Duh, super strength mixed with night terrors is not a good, um, mixey thing"

"Mixey thing?"

"I'm tired" 

"Honey, do you trust them?"

"Yes"

"With your life?"

"Yes" No hesitation.

"Then you won't hurt them"

She bit her lip "Teal'c said pretty much the same thing"

"Huh, giving out the same advice as the big guy. I'm definitely getting wiser in my old age"

"Of course you are Jack" She kissed him on the top of his head.

"Don't do that, it makes me feel…"

"Old?" Laney smirked at him "I'm hitting the shower old man"

 

"This is ridiculous" growled Mitchell, sitting up in the tent.

"Where you going Mitch?"

"To get her, I've had enough of this"

Sheppard raised his eyebrows "If she kills me in her sleep I'm haunting your arse"

Mitchell snorted.

He crouched down in front of her tent. "Princess?"

"I'm fine Mitchell, go away"

"No, get your arse out here"

"Excuse me?!"

"Now Laney"

She appeared scowling "What?"

He reached in and grabbed her sleeping bag. "What are you doing?"

"Getting a full night's sleep Princess. Come on"

"I can't"

"Yes you can, we trust you"

He threw her bag next to Sheppard, and gently shoved her inside. She sighed.

"Fine, but if I punch you in my sleep it's not my fault"

Sheppard quietly snorted.

"Sleep" Mitchell ordered, pointing to the bag.

She crawled inside and lay her head down. 

"I hate you"

"No you don't"

 

Laney closed her eyes and surrounded herself with the scent of her friends, hoping it would be enough to stop her from lashing out. 

Then she was standing in a field of poppies and daisies. She groaned.

"Please not again"

"Laney?"

She whirled to face her sister "Ange?"

"We've been trying to talk to you big sis. You keep blocking us out, twisting us, why?"

"I don't know. Survivors Guilt or some shit"

Ange smiled "We're fine Laney, we're at peace, we can rest. We want you to find a little of that peace too. And not by dying" She added hurriedly.

"I live with Uncle Jack now, it's nice. And I have a new team, you'd like them"

"I do, they're hot"

"Ange!"

"What, they are" She winked at her. "But you need to stop blaming yourself sweetie. That's the only way you can enjoy what life has in store for you"

"And whats that?"

"Can't tell"

Laney rolled her eyes. "Does it involve George Clooney and a tub of ice-cream"

Angie snorted "No, sorry sis. But I think you won't be too disappointed about that"

"I miss you Ange"

"I miss you too Lane, I'll be waiting but don't rush ok?"

"Ok, I love you"

"I Love you too sis"

Laney looked out over the field of poppies and daisies, holding her sisters hand and smiled.

 

The young woman between them shifted. John rolled away, covering his crotch with his hands. Mitchell rolled his eyes at him.

"What?!" Sheppard mouthed.

"Dick" mouthed back Mitchell.

"Exactly"

Mitchell narrowed his eyes.

Laney murmured "Not again"

"Fuck" mouthed John.

"Wait"

Then she seemed to relax, and her breaths evened out. They watched her. A small smile tugged at her mouth.

They grinned at each other and settled back down.


	2. Chapter Two

The first time Colonel Mitchell and Lt Colonel John Sheppard saw Laney Jacobs fight they did something they'd never done before. They hung back, covering her with their P90's.

"This is good for her" said Mitchell

"Yeah" choked out Sheppard, as he watched her plant a kick to the chest of a large, hairy and very green creature, whilst simultaneously decapitating two others.

"Things have been quiet, she needs to let off a little steam"

"Right" croaked John, as she arced her body into the air driving a knife into the top of a creatures head.

"Jackson was right"

John watched her slam the last of their attackers into a tree, her elbow cracking it's neck.

"Um, what?"

"It is beautiful carnage"

 

As she heard the neck of the last of the things that had attacked them snap Laney stepped back. She blinked, trying to rid herself of the image of Faith, head twisted, beautiful dark eyes devoid of life.

They'd come out of nowhere, and they were strong. What had scared her the most was that she hadn't sensed them until they were almost on top of her team. Laney clenched her fists.

She needed to start patrolling again, training, hunting. Sparring with the marines wasn't enough. She'd gotten slow, sloppy, over confident, secure in the knowledge that she was the most powerful being on Earth. Except she wasn't on Earth all of the time now, and neither were the two men who had begun to mean so much to her.

And Earth was open to so much more danger because of the stargate. She had to get better, get back in the game.

 

"Princess, you ok?"

She rolled her eyes "All good, just riding out the adrenaline"

Mitchell looked at her "Ok, you need a bit longer?"

She shook her head and grinned at him "I need tequila" She paused "And dancing"

Mitchell raised his eyebrows.

She shrugged "It's a Slayer thing"

 

The first time they saw her dance they watched her with hooded eyes.

They saw traces of the way she fought in her movements. Liquid and strong, precise, taking her to where she wanted to be. She demanded attention, as if her power was reaching out and daring you to try and get a taste.

"I'm not sure what I like better, watching her fight or dance"

Mitchell snorted "Think it's pretty much the same thing Shep"

"Yeah"

As she disappeared into the crowd John turned his head "She remind you of Val?"

"No"

"Not at all" John pushed.

Cam exhaled "In some ways, maybe. They're both broken, trying to find something to fix 'em. But I think Lane is closer to the answer than Val will ever be"

John raised his eyebrows "Really"

"Yeah. Vala was always too shit scared to get better. Meant she'd have no excuse for her actions. Lane already acts like she's fixed. Tells me she wants it more"

"Huh"

 

Laney closed her eyes and lost herself in the sound of the music. The bass vibrated through her muscles and bones, the brush of hands and breathes goose bumped her skin and sparked through her nerves, the smell of sweat and hormones, promises of more, made her pulse race.

God, she missed this. After the fight, when the adrenaline wouldn't stop pumping, they had gone dancing. Slayers weaving in and out of bodies, wrapping themselves around the people who would never know that tonight they had been saved. Laney had never been able to get enough, because of me you're alive, because of me you dance. 

Laney smiled. They may not have always been the hottest in the club, or worn the most expensive clothes. Shit, sometimes they'd shown up straight from battle. Grubby jeans and torn t-shirts, but they always got in, never lacked for company. Somehow it was like who they were, what they did radiated from them. A Slayer never went home alone unless she wanted to.

She had felt their gaze as she skirted the edge of the dance floor. Their presence in her everyday life making them stand out from the others. It had made her feel strange. Like she wanted to hide and show off at the same time. She'd moved into the crowd to escape.

Then the hairs on the back of her neck pricked with heat and she opened her eyes. Arms still raised above her, head tilted. Her eyes met his. He didn't wave, tilt his head, smile. He didn't acknowledge her at all but he was watching. His darkened gaze pinning her.

She closed her eyes and began to move again. He'd find her later.

 

They watched Laney watch the man who had been watching her.

She'd paused mid-sway. Arms raised, head tilted up. It should have been provocative but something about the way they were watching each other caused the pose to make her seem vulnerable, as if surrendering.

Then her eyes slid shut and she melted back into the crowd.

The man left.

 

"Feel better Princess?" Mitchell smiled down at her.

"Umhm. Thank you for bringing me Mitch" She yawned "Guess it's my bedtime"

"Yeah, mine too Lane. Got to go rescue Shep first though"

Laney frowned at him "Did he get captured while I was busy?"

Mitchell snorted "In a way" He gestured over her shoulder.

Laney turned and saw Sheppard practically pinned to the bar by a rather stunning blonde, in a rather small dress. She was leaning up to speak into his ear, pushing her breasts up and into his chest.

"Are you sure he wants rescuing?"

Mitchell curled a hand around her waist, leading her towards them "Trust me on this one Princess"

 

"Hey hon. How was your night?"

"Um good. Just what the therapist ordered"

"Hm" Jack frowned, studying his god-daughter. She'd taken big steps in her time with him, and since joining Sheppard and Mitchell she'd flourished. But tonight there was a hint of tension in her body, a slight edge to her gaze. "What's bothering you Lane?"

"Nothing"

Jack sat back and folded his arms "Liar"

She rolled her eyes. He glared back.

"You're as bad as the guys"

"Good to hear they're looking out for you"

She rolled her eyes again.

"Please Laney"

"Fine" she huffed "Those things today that attacked us?"

Jack nodded.

"I didn't sense them until they were practically on top of us. And they were strong and fast. I actually broke into a sweat!" Jack snorted.

"A few months ago it would have been ME hunting THEM Jack. I'd have sensed them as soon as I stepped through the gate. They should have been easy pickings" She sighed and ran her hand through her hair "I'm losing my edge, I've gotten sloppy. Sparring with the marines and an occasional off-world scuffle isn't enough. What happens when something big comes? I'm the only one left. And I won't lose you guys just because I've let my game drop"

"Honey, you're not on your own, and the responsibility of saving the world doesn't fall on just your shoulders. We may not have your super powers but we've been doing just fine so far"

"I know that Jack. But I know I can also be better. If I lose someone the thought that I wasn't at my best will haunt me. At least when the others died I could look back and say there was nothing else in my power I could have done. I need to start patrolling again, going hunting. Without another Slayer to spar with my next best option is to fight the things I was made to. Kill my natural prey"

"Prey?"

"That's what they are"

He nodded "Anything else"

She bit her lip "I would like to ask Teal'c if I may visit him every coupl'a weeks so I can spar with him and his people. They are skilled warriors and stronger than the humans on Earth"

Jack hummed "I can't see a problem with that, I am sure Teal'c wouldn't mind. I'll send a messenger through the gate tomorrow"

"Thank you"

"As for the patrolling thing…this is done at night?"

She nodded.

"Are you going to be able to do that AND stay awake on missions? I know things have been pretty quiet out there lately but I don't want to send you through the gate exhausted. I'm pretty sure Mitchell'd be pissed too"

"I won't go every night. Just when we have no scheduled missions. We're off for five days now so I'll get a good run in and then take a break"

Jack raised his brows.

"What!"

"Very sensible Laney. SG-1 are a better influence on you than I thought"

She stuck her tongue out.

 

"You seen or heard from Laney since we've been off duty?"

"I live with you Mitchell, I think you'd have noticed"

Mitchell glared at him. They were sat in the briefing room waiting on O'Neill, again.

"It's just unusual not to hear from her for that long. She usually shows up at some point, if only to raid our fridge"

Sheppard smirked "I'm pretty sure last time she did our laundry too"

Mitchell stared at him "I thought that was you"

"Nope"

"Did you clean the stove a few weeks back?"

"Nope"

"Huh, maybe we should offer her the spare room"

"Oh yeah Mitchell, that's a great plan" Mitchell rolled his eyes.

"What's a great plan? And does it involve me beating things up?"

"Stop eavesdropping. And no it doesn't"

Laney grinned at him and dropped into the chair across the table. She tilted her head.

"Am I not allowed to know the plan Colonel?"

"There is no plan" snapped Mitchell.

John snorted.

"Well aren't we a little touchy today. Did Sheppard eat all your macaroons again"

"Hey, that was you"

"Was not"

"Was too"

"Wa.."

"Guys!" Mitchell rubbed his forehead "Please.."

"Oh" Laney leant forward to John and mock whispered "Is he hungover again?"

John grinned at her "Play nice Lane"

She smiled back. He eyed her.

"You're looking particularly pleased with yourself this morning Miss Jacobs. Does this have something to do with why our fridge is still full, and Cameron's macaroon stash still intact, despite us just having five days off?"

"Is this your long and complicated way of asking me where I've been Colonel Sheppard?"

"Yes"

"Good morning SG-1"

"Sir"

"Jack"

"I'll make this quick guys. Laney has requested regular sparring sessions with Teal'c and his Jaffa"

The two mens brows raised.

"Teal'c has sent word that they would be honoured for her to join them. It will be once a fortnight, starting tomorrow. As it's not officially an off-world mission I'm tempted to rota in a few of the marines to go with her. Save you two from being forced to go back and forth so often. What do you think?"

The two men stared at her. She looked back blankly.

"I think we're a team. If she would prefer us not to be there then fine but otherwise we go"

"Laney?"

"I'm happy with whatever decision they make"

Jack looked between them. "Will somebody make a bloody decision"

"We go"

"Fine"

 

After the short, and a little awkward, meeting Laney slipped away. She found refuge on Daniels couch in his lab. A silent half hour passed until he turned to her.

"Not that I mind you camping out on my couch Lane, but is there a reason you're here and not enjoying winding up your two Colonels? It seems to be your preferred method of self entertainment"

"They're already pissed, even I don't like to push my luck. And they're not MINE?" She glared at him.

"And why are they pissed?"

"Because I disappeared for five days, and I didn't tell them I was going to be going to the Jaffa settlement to train"

"Ah"

"I don't have to tell them where I am every single fucking minute of my day. They're my team not my bloody…..Well, anyway, I don't have to. And I don't have to make them privy to every aspect of my life either" She frowned.

Daniel sighed "The thing with teams here Lane is that they're pretty intense. They spend a lot of time together and they rely on each other completely. When you step through that gate it's just you and them. It kind of opens up the whole 'knowing everything about each other' and 'caring about each other' can of worms. If you usually spend a lot of your time off with them and then suddenly don't they're going to want to know why. If you start hiding things from them they're going to be upset"

"Demanding bastards"

"Yes, and you needed that when you were feeling hurt and lost. Now you're beginning to heal you're finding it suffocating. Do you want them to stop playing such a big part in your life? Because if you do SG-1 may not be the place for you anymore"

 

Laney left the mountain not long after her conversation with Daniel. Sat in her car, she thought about what he'd said. Then she drove into town, picked up a bottle of whiskey and a pack of Marlboro's and booked herself into a motel room thirty miles away.

She sat at the peeling table in her room, lit a cigarette, cracked open the whiskey and took a long pull.

He'd found her the second night she'd gone out on patrol. As the vampire in front of her had exploded into dust she whirled to come face to face with him.

"Well at least you're still doing your job" he drawled.

"Fuck you Dean"

He glared at her. "Think I'm the one who should be pissed here sweetheart"

She shifted uncomfortably.

"I mean, what the fuck Laney!? Some little streak of piss vamp laughs in my face, telling me all Slayers are dead and his 'people' are gonna fucking RULE, I drive like a fucking madman to Cleveland to find the house empty and full of dust and then six months later I watch your pretty little arse living it up on the dance floor. What the fuck!?"

"THEY ARE ALL DEAD!"

"YOU'RE NOT!"

Laney clenched her fists "And what would you have done if I'd shown up on your doorstep Dean. Given me a hug and told me it was gonna be ok, or told me to grow up and get on with it. 'Life's fucked up sweetheart, especially yours, deal with it' She quoted at him.

He narrowed his gaze "Don't fucking twist things Lane. Shit, I fucking mourned you. Bitch"

She blinked back the tears "I'm sorry Dean. I just…after last time. I wanted to come to you, I did. But you're so fucking hard to find and I wasn't really operating on all cylinders you know? Jack hasn't moved in like thirty years"

"Jack? One of those fucking flyboys you were with. Jesus Laney"

"No! They're my new team, I work with them"

Dean raised his eyebrows.

"It's classified, sorry"

He let out a dark laugh "Government, military. Fucking hell, you really have gone to shit"

And that's when her fist connected with his jaw.

"Fuck!"

"How dare you! You have no fucking idea, you never did!"

He scrambled upright.

"And Jack, for YOUR information, is my god-father. Apart from you he was the only person I'd told about being a Slayer"

"Your team" he sneered "don't know what you are"

"Yes they do. And they don't call me a 'what' either"

He fingered his jaw, wincing slightly. "You're right. I'm sorry I was out of line"

She looked down "So was I, I should have called" She raised her chin "Not sorry I punched you though"

"I've missed you"

"Me too"

He sighed "I'm leaving in the morning"

She nodded and followed him to his car.

After she'd slipped out the next day Laney had booked a room at the motel across from his. An hour later she watched him sling his bag in the boot and drive away.

Laney sighed and took another swig of her whiskey. She'd been feeling good this morning, in fact for the last few days. She was out hunting again, she'd gotten to say goodbye to Dean properly. Well, their version of saying goodbye anyway. She smirked, if you were gonna put yourself back out there after a year Dean Winchester was one hell of a way to start.

And then she'd been called to that stupid meeting, and John and Cam had been pissed, and then they'd pushed for where she'd been and what she'd been doing. And why the hell she thought it was ok to start patrolling again without telling them, oh and thanks for the heads up on the Jaffa visits.

She'd left before she'd put a hole in the wall, or their faces.

Maybe Daniel was right, maybe if she stayed it would all go to hell. Maybe it was time to get back out there, as a Slayer. 

She took another drink and explored her feelings about walking away from them. Her Colonels, she snorted to herself.

 

"Hello"

"Mitchell?"

"Yes"

"It's O'Neill"

"Is something wrong Sir?"

John raised his head and rose an eyebrow. Cam shrugged.

"Um, don't think so Cameron. Laney with you?"

"Uh, no Sir. We last saw her just after the briefing"

John rolled his eyes

"Right"

"I expect she's out patrolling Sir"

"Not supposed to be, it's a school night"

"Ah I see. Do you want us to, um.."

"No. I'll see you at 0900 tomorrow"

"Yes Sir"

Cam replaced the phone.

"Don't tell me she's off on another fucking adventure"

"Don't ask me Sheppard. If she's not telling Jack, she's sure as hell not telling us"

 

Sheppard had been expecting to find her half asleep and pissed as hell the next morning when he entered the gate room. But she was smiling, talking excitedly to Daniel about something. Maybe she was just saving her rage for them. He was pretty sure she'd left them yesterday with an intense desire to punch them in the face.

He ran his hands through his hair. He couldn't really blame her. Him and Cam had gotten so used to her needing their company and reassurance that now, when she was finally on her way to being better, they struggled not to freak out at every little thing.

She caught his gaze and smiled. His stomach untwisted a little, and he smiled back.

"Shep, wipe that smile of your face. You look like some kind of lovestruck teenager"

"Mitchell, I see you're still in a delightfully foul mood"

"Just saw Jack. She hasn't been home, just strolled onto base half hour ago"

John sighed and turned to his friend "Mitchell, she's a grown woman, and a Slayer to boot. In fact I believe she turns twenty-six in a few weeks. If she wants to stay out at night then she has every right to. She crawls in here hanging out her arse when we're supposed to be going off world then I'll be pissed. Apart from that it's none of my damn business, or yours"

"What the fuck" Mitchell narrowed his eyes.

"Back off, or she'll be gone before you can blink"

And with that John walked to the foot of the ramp, taking his place by Laney.

"Thank you"

"You're welcome"

"You know my birthday?"

"I do my research"

 

Three weeks later Laney knocked on their door. Things had been awkward since the whole 'Jaffa Gate', as she now liked to call it. John had at least been making the effort but Mitchell was being a prick and she'd had enough.

He opened the door. "Laney, everything ok?"

She rolled her eyes. "Fine Mitchell" She held up a bag "I come bearing gifts and a promise"

"What's the promise?" yelled Sheppard from inside. Mitchell shot him a look.

"I'll answer any question you want to ask, truthfully. If you'll have a drink with me"

She looked at Mitchell. Trying to communicate to him that she was so close to walking it wasn't funny.

He sighed "Fine"

"God, don't seem too enthusiastic Mitch. I might get the wrong idea"

John snorted and reached past his housemate to grab her hand. "Come on in sweetheart, I'll get some glasses"

Laney sat at their kitchen table, watching John grab glasses and clear plates from dinner. She'd always felt so safe here, so relaxed but now it seemed weird, unwelcoming even. She hoped this worked. 

Mitchell sat slumped opposite her, flicking through some paperwork. John snatched it out his hand and slammed a glass down in front of him. He cracked open the bottle of whiskey and poured them all half a glass.

"Jesus Shep" John rolled his eyes.

She took a long gulp. "First question"

"Where did you go the night before we went to the Jaffa?"

She looked at Mitchell "A motel, about thirty miles out of town"

"With who?"

She raised her eyebrow "No one"

"Bullshit" Laney shrugged.

John sighed "Why did you spend the night in a motel alone?"

"Because I needed to think"

"About what?"

"About whether I should stay"

"And what did you decide?"

"I decided that I shouldn't, but I want to. And I tend to do what I want"

Mitchell snorted. "Why did you need to decide whether to stay?"

Laney drained her glass "Because I'm not who I was when I first stepped though the gate with you. I was only little pieces of me. You two and Jack helped me find the other bits and kinda stick them back on"

"So, you're healing. That's good. Why would that mean you had to leave Princess?"

"Because you liked me better when I needed you"

"You what" Mitchell's voice was like ice.

"I said I'd answer truthfully Mitch. I feel like since I've gotten back to something resembling the old Laney you've spent most of your time pissed with me. The only conclusion I can come to is that you liked me better broken. Maybe I liked you both better then too"

"That's the most fucking ridiculous thing I've ever heard"

"Can we stick to questions and answers please?" Mitchell glared at her, John refilled their glasses.

"Who was the man at the club that made you stop dancing?" John asked.

Laney frowned, she didn't think they'd noticed. "Dean Winchester"

"You knew him before?"

"Yes"

"Elaborate"

"I met him nearly four years ago on a hunt. He and his brother hunt the same things Slayers do"

"You were together"

"As much as two people who hunt monsters for a living can be"

"Are you together now?"

Laney snorted "No"

"Then why was he there?"

"Coincidence. He left the next day. After giving me a bollocking for failing to inform him that I was, in fact, alive"

"Jesus Lane, you left him thinking you were dead?!"

She glared at John "I'm pretty sure I've already had this argument with the actual person who had every right to be pissed. I apologised" She smirked "thoroughly"

"Yeah, not needing to know that Princess"

John refilled their glasses.

"Why are you patrolling again, training with Teal'c?"

"Because those green hairy things freaked me out. They should have been easy prey but they nearly got the jump on me. I've let myself go"

Both men eyed her "Really?"

She rolled her eyes "Not like that. But I'm not like I was. I'm slower, weaker, my senses are dulled. Patrolling, hunting, training with the Jaffa will help pull me back. Without the other girls to spar with it's been easy for me to let it slide. I have to be at my best, losing one of you because I'd let my training slip would be devastating"

John slid his hand over hers "Not your responsibility Lane"

"Yes it is. You're my team. My friends. I'd give my life for yours in a heartbeat"

John refilled, slopping a little over the sides.

"Watch it Shep, that's good whiskey"

Laney giggled "Don't worry, have another"

"Fuck"

 

They were sat on the floor of John and Cam's living room. The guys propped up against the sofa, Laney leaning on the recliner.

"I'm so going to regret this in the morning" mumbled Cam.

Laney snorted "My turn for questions"

"Shit"

"Were you both involved with Vala?"

John's head snapped up "What?"

She rolled her eyes. "You heard me"

"Yes" answered Mitchell "What gave it away?"

She shrugged "The things you say, and don't say, about her. The way no one ever talks about her around you. Sometimes I'd find something of hers while I was hunting out your macaroons"

John laughed.

"Why didn't she stay?"

They looked at her. Cam sighed. "Val was broken, bit like you were Princess. But she didn't want to stick bits back on. She liked having an excuse for the things she did"

"She wasn't a bad person"

"No Lane, she wasn't. But she didn't want to stop being like she was enough. Wasn't ready to stop moving"

"And she left?"

"Slipped away off-world, didn't say goodbye"

"Well this explains your tendency to…hover"

Cam laughed "Very diplomatic Princess"

"Learnt from the best"

She fixed them with her gaze, albeit a slightly blurry one "'I'm not going anywhere"

 

Laney woke in the dark. Surrounded by her friends scent, the warmth from their bodies seeping through her skin, she relaxed. Why was she between them, was she off-world? She tried to focus her thoughts.

'Huh, that went better than expected'


	3. Chapter Three

Laney Jacobs sat at her god-fathers kitchen table, drumming her fingers. She was waiting for the sun to go down. They were scheduled to go off-world tomorrow but she'd decided the 'no patrolling on a school night' rule could go screw itself.

She was confused and frustrated, and she was a Slayer. She needed to hit something. And Jack had said he was running out of marines.

It had been nearly a month since she'd woken between them in their bed. 

 

She'd winced at the slight headache, giving thanks for her Slayer metabolism, and felt a brief pang of pity for the two men beside her. They were going to feel like they'd been hit by a truck, carrying crates of $50 a bottle whiskey. Sliding out from the middle of them she'd grabbed her jeans and padded down to the kitchen.

Laney was on her second cup of coffee when a voice came from the doorway.

"I'm never drinking with you again"

She looked up "Good Morning Colonel Sheppard"

He rolled his eyes at her and slid into a chair at the table. Eyeing her he said "You made coffee"

"Uh Huh"

He stared at her. She sighed and got up to pour him a mug. "Food Colonel?"

"Not yet sweetheart. And drop the Colonel"

"Yes Sir" 

He took a gulp of coffee. "Thought you'd slipped out for a second there. Then I nearly broke my neck on your shoe"

She grinned at him "Told you I wasn't going anywhere. And besides, I was hungry"

"You're always bloody hungry"

"Slayer..."

"…Metabolism. Yeah, yeah, I know"

She frowned at her mug "Do you think I should take Mitchell one?"

John snorted "Not unless you want to discover how to tell someone to fuck off in 12 different languages"

She raised her eyebrows.

"Jackson" he said, as explanation.

"Ah"

An hour later Laney was sat on the counter watching John cook bacon whilst he attempted to explain American Football to her. She sighed.

"Maybe while you two are watching games I could go out and beat stuff up instead"

He frowned at her "I worry that all your forms of entertainment tend towards violence"

"Pretty much part of the package Colonel"

"Stop calling me Colonel"

"No"

"I mean it"

"No"

"I'm way to hungover to listen to you two bitching at each other"

"It lives"

"It's complaining so I don't think there's any permanent damage"

"Funny lady this morning"

Over a second pot of coffee and bacon sandwiches they decided that in the cold light of day them all being together still sounded like a good idea. As long as the guys could curb their over-protective tendencies and Laney could remember to tell them important things. Like if she was going to be out patrolling, or taking herself off for a few days.

After breakfast they fell back into bed, fully clothed, and slept until sundown.

 

Checking her watch Laney sighed. They hadn't even attempted sex that first night, probably a good job the amount of alcohol they'd consumed. But she'd kinda expected it to have happened by now.

There were brushes of hands against skin as they walked past her, a few dropped kisses and she'd spent a good few nights in her usual place between them but nothing more. She bit her lip. Maybe they'd changed their minds and didn't know how to tell her. She shook her head, they'd all promised to talk about any worries or doubts that any of them had.

She knew she was a few years younger than them, perhaps they were worried about what she was expecting, maybe they thought she was nervous or inexperienced. Laney smirked.

She wasn't a slut but there was nothing like great sex to take the edge off after a fight. While she had no doubt they could probably teach her a thing or two she'd probably be a surprise to them. She'd picked up a few tricks along the way too. And her preference for more than one partner at a time was certainly suited to them.

Also it wasn't as though what they were doing was unusual. The world was a pretty accepting place these days and many relationships involved more than two people. And same sex marriages had outnumbered hetrosexual ones for years.

Even the military had cottoned on eventually and repealed DADT over forty years ago.

The sky took on a reddish glow and Laney grinned. There was more than one way for her to get her rush.

 

The next morning Laney stood in front of the mirror in the shower room at the mountain. She smiled slightly. At first glance she looked like she always did when going off world. Grey BDU trousers, black leather halter top and black leather jacket. Her gun holster was strapped to her right thigh, the scythe she'd found next to Buffy swinging in its harness over her left.

But these BDU's now hung slightly lower on her hips, snugged her arse a bit tighter, the halter was cut maybe half an inch lower than the others she owned. Her hair was the most noticeable, with only half pinned up, allowing it fall down her back. Scrubbed free of make-up she didn't look too much like she'd made an effort.

She strolled into the gate room five minutes early and stopped by a young Lieutenant she knew.

"Good Morning Davis"

"M'am. How are you today?"

She rolled her eyes "Don't call me M'am, it makes me feel ancient. And a little like a brothel owner"

He laughed, drawing a couple of looks from the rest of his team waiting to head out.

 

Colonel Mitchell and Lt Colonel Sheppard entered the gate room in time to hear a young marine laugh at something Laney had said, her head tilted up to him, smiling.

"Entertaining the troops Princess?"

"I feel it's my civic duty Colonel"

Davis snorted.

Mitchell looked at him "Lieutenant"

He saluted "Sir"

Laney rolled her eyes.

They were interrupted by the gate beginning to dial.

"Good luck Davis"

"You too M'am"

"Stop calling me that"

"Yes Sir"

 

"So you know Lieutenant Davis?"

"He's one of the few marines who can last longer than five seconds with me"

"Um, excuse me"

Laney looked at Mitchell, eyes hidden behind her mirrored lenses "In the sparring room Mitch. Get your head out of the gutter"

And with that she turned and walked down the path through the forest.

Sheppard grinned at him and got the finger in return.

Watching her walk a few steps ahead of him Colonel Mitchell couldn't work out what was different about her today. The hair was obvious, 'fancied something new' she'd shrugged, but there was something else he couldn't quite put his finger on. He idly wondered if Sheppard was fighting the urge to run his fingers through those soft black waves too.

Lt Colonel Sheppard had chosen to walk in front. Her uniform had always been a little distracting, it was those damn tops she insisted on wearing. But today he was sure there was slightly more flesh on show. When she'd turned to reply to Mitchell, placing her hands on her hips, her shoulders had naturally pushed back, revealing the curve of the top of her breast. Maybe he was just being driven slowly mad by his self-imposed denial.

Laney walked between them, trying to keep her posture natural and relaxed. She was pretty sure the subtle alterations to her clothes were working. Being caught laughing with Davis had just been a bonus. She'd better be careful though, she didn't want him to get into trouble.

She allowed herself a little smile. She had no idea what game they were playing but her one was one she'd honed to perfection. Dating Dean 'mean, moody and mysterious' Winchester for three years had made her an expert.

 

Stepping under the hot water in the mens changing room Colonel Mitchell groaned "Thank fuck that's over"

"I quite enjoyed our stroll through the woods. Very romantic"

Mitchell looked at the other Colonel "You're freaking kidding me right"

Sheppard grinned at him.

"Don't play all cool with me Shep. I know why you chose to lead our little procession today. Left me staring at her bloody arse for six hours"

Sheppard smirked "You're our great and powerful leader, you could've ordered me to swap"

"Bite me"

"If you ask nicely" Sheppard waggled his brows at him.

"Don't you fucking start Sheppard" Mitchell ran his hands through his hair. "Who's idea was it for us to give her time anyway"

"Uh, yours"

"And for us not to have sex until she joined us"

"That'd be you again, oh great leader"

"I'm a dick"

"Yep"

 

Jack eyed the young woman sprawled in the chair across his desk.

"How was MX4, uh MX2-3, uh… wherever the hell you went today?"

She laughed "Probably make a good Alpha Site"

He raised his brows "That boring huh?"

"Yep. Six hours of walking through a very pretty forest, bored out of my mind" She sighed "If they were currently putting out it could have been so much more fun"

"Woah, not what I need to hear hon. It's gonna take a bit of getting used to, and even then, just no"

She smirked at him, then looked serious "I seriously lack in girlfriends. Now I'm starting to do normal stuff I realise just how much I talked to them, relied on them. We partied together, had movie nights, talked about boys, threatened each others boyfriends"

Jack snorted "Now that I'd like to have seen" He looked thoughtful "There's plenty of women on base who I'm sure would like to get away from their teams for a bit"

"Way ahead of you General. I'm going for a drink with Lieutenant Cole tonight"

"Cole, cole"

"SG-7, pretty, blonde…"

"Uh, no idea"

"I worry about you Jack"

"Gee thanks Laney"

"Actually I'd better shoot, I've only got an hour to get back and changed. If you see the guys can you tell them I'll see them at home please?"

"Sure hon"

Half an hour later there was a knock on his office door. "Come in"

"Sorry to disturb you Sir, just trying to locate your god-daughter"

"No problem Mitchell. She headed back to yours about half hour ago, said something about needing to get ready to go out"

"Out?"

"Yes Mitchell, out"

"Um, ok, thanks Sir"

"You're welcome Colonel"

Jack leaned back in his chair and wondered what the hell she was up to now.

 

Laney took her time in the shower, she'd used the one in their bedroom, making sure it was as hot as she could take it so she'd leave the smell of her body wash and hair products lingering. Stepping out she massaged her lotion into her still warm and damp skin, then wrapped Mitchell's dressing gown round her while she blasted her hair dry.

Making sure her body lotion had properly soaked in she slid into her clothes. She heard the front door open as she sat to apply her make-up.

"Jesus Lane it smells like a freaking beauty salon in here!"

She grinned to herself "Get used to it Colonel!"

"Stop calling me Colonel!"

"No!"

She heard them move around the living room, probably giving her some privacy. She rolled her eyes.

"Who you going out with Princess?" Called Mitchell.

"Sarah Cole" She called back.

She heard Sheppard mutter "SG-7, hot, blonde, dating Reed"

"Was dating Reed" She yelled "He was fucking his CO too"

"It sucks my girlfriend has super hearing" Shouted Sheppard.

"It sucks my boyfriend checks out hot blondes when I'm a brunette!"

She heard Mitchell snort.

Standing up she looked in the mirror. 'You scrub up pretty good Jacobs' She smiled at herself.

Her long black hair was dried to look like what they said your hair should look like after great sex, but never actually did, her green eyes were ringed in black making them stand out against the lack of other make up. Her eyes travelled down, simple white tee that fell slightly off one shoulder, tight TIGHT leather pants that stopped at the ankles and her favourite black leather stilettos that gave her another good four inches. She'd purposefully left her jacket in the living room.

Spraying herself with her favourite perfume, and giving their bed a couple of spritz' for good measure, she grabbed her bag and shut the bedroom door behind her, trapping her scent for later.

Stepping into the living room she moved over towards her jacket that she'd left lying over the recliner. Bending over to grab it she told them "Pizza's in the oven, beers are in the fridge"

She turned to face them and slid it on over her shoulders "Try not to explode with the manliness of it all while I'm gone" Going to leave and then pausing she turned back "If I'm late I'll take the guest bed so I don't wake you. Have a good night"

And then she was closing the front door behind her and running down to the lobby to grab her cab. It was only when she was on the way to the bar she realised they hadn't said a word to her. She allowed herself a little smirk.

 

John and Cam looked at each other.

"Damn"

"Yeah"

"Did you say the woman she's meeting is a hot blonde?"

"Yeah"

"Shit"

"Yeah"

Three hours later John Sheppard went to go to bed. He opened the bedroom door and her scent hit him.

"For fuck's sake!"

 

Laney Jacobs and Sarah Cole knocked back their fourth shot of tequila. Lane looked at her glass a little sorrowfully.

"That should probably be my last one. Got a mission tomorrow. Mitchell'll be pissed if I'm hanging out my arse"

"Don't you have that Slayer metabolism?"

"Oh yeah" She gestured to the barman, holding up four fingers. He smiled at her.

"So, it must be pretty intense screwing them and working with them" Sarah smiled at her.

"Word travels fast"

"Please, they've been death glaring any other marine who so much looks at you for months. We were all just waiting for the inevitable"

Laney snorted "You see, this is why I miss having girlfriends. I'd have heard about this so much sooner"

Sarah nodded "No offence. But you seemed pretty unapproachable when you first joined otherwise you probably would have"

"Yeah, I know. It was just a bit of a tough time"

The other woman raised her eyebrows.

"I lost a lot of people. People I fought with, lived with. We were a bit like a giant SG team"

"I'm sorry"

Laney shrugged "It's better now"

"Good. I'm sure getting to share a bed with two hot Colonels doesn't hurt either"

Laney grinned at her, then bit her lip "Actually that's pretty much all I'm doing"

Sarah's eyes widened "Really?!"

"Really"

"You mean no, um.."

"Yeah, no ummm"

"Why?!"

"I have no fucking idea. Actually, I kind of have an idea and if I'm right it's ridiculous"

Sarah recrossed her legs causing several men to groan quietly. "Explain"

"I think they're waiting for me to, you know, get comfortable with the idea"

"Idea?"

"Yeah, of us, you know, all being together. I think it's because I'm younger, and maybe also a little bit because of what had happened to me just before I joined"

"Losing your people?"

"Yeah. I got nightmares and stuff. I needed their support a lot"

Sarah nodded "Mix that in with the age difference and you get classic over-protectiveness. They can't decide whether to fuck you or look after you"

"I'm pretty sure they could do both. In fact the fucking would make the looking after more tolerable"

The other woman laughed "Should they be worried about the age difference? You don't come across as being a shy, retiring type" 

Laney snorted "Thanks! But yeah, you're right. I'm not saying I'm gonna stroll in there and blow their minds, but I'm not gonna run screaming either. I actually prefer having two partners" She grinned "Slayer stamina"

"Hmm, maybe this is something I should consider. My foray into hetro coupledom has been disastrous"

"Reed?"

"Yeah, dick. You know if he'd come to me I'd have been more than willing to share his bed with Dixon"

Laney's eyebrows rose "Huh, didn't have you pegged for one of us"

Sarah snorted "Oh yeah. It's just tough finding two people who actually take it seriously. There's usually one of them who's just in it for the sex"

"Yeah I know" Laney leant back and flicked her hair, earning her some admiring glances "So the plan is 'find Sarah Cole two hot, seriously into her, men'"

Sarah raised her glass and Laney clinked hers against it "Sounds like a plan"

They threw back their shots. The barman slid four more shots over to them and waved away Sarah's money.

"Keep up that kind of conversation and I'll hire you to sit at the bar. I've already had to replace seven spilt drinks" He winked at them.

Laney looked at Sarah "Until your soul mates come along he's pretty hot"

Sarah winked at her and threw back a shot.

 

Laney slipped off her shoes outside their door and padded inside. Shedding her clothes she slid into the guest bed, glancing at the clock, 0130. Late enough to warrant sleeping in here but not so late her alarm would be painful tomorrow. She settled down and thought about the two men asleep down the hall. Maybe she could talk them into dinner out tomorrow, she had the perfect dress hanging in the wardrobe back at Jacks.

She heard the bed shift down the hall and then footsteps. Pulling the bed covers down with her foot she closed her eyes.

The footsteps paused in her doorway.

A whispered "Fucking hell"

She listened to him leave and smiled into the darkness. Mitchell just got a great view of her arse.

Definitely time to pull out the dress.

 

It turned out the dress wasn't needed. All thanks to the people of MX6-472.

They had been sent to secure a trade agreement which the locals had already approved the terms of. However, apparently the deal had to be sealed by Laney fighting their best warrior.

Laney had closed her eyes, regretting that last tequila shot "There's a ceremonial outfit isn't there?"

"You shall be dressed in the garments of our finest warriors"

"Fabulous" 

Half hour later Laney looked down at herself and sighed. The skirt was a silky material in purple which brushed the back of her knees but then curved up and around the front to meet just below her crotch, the vest, in a soft gold leather, laced up the back. Which she was going to need help with, shit. Then she grinned.

Shucking her bra off and adding it to the pile of her uniform she wandered around the screen. Both men were standing with their backs to her, looking outside the tent.

"Sheppard give me a hand with this will you?"

They turned around. Mitchell pulled his shades down his nose "That's what they fight in?"

She rolled her eyes "Want me to get you tickets to the next match?" Laney turned her back to them "Sheppard, please?"

He cleared his throat "Sure Lane"

As he pulled at the laces, running them through his fingers and tying her in she forced herself to stay relaxed.

"All done"

She turned and smiled at him "Thank you. Hold this will you, and guard it with your life. I'm not walking back through the gate like this"

He took her uniform "Sure"

She nodded and walked past him. She'd left her bra and panties sat on top of the pile.

It turned out that the arena was simply the village square, scattered with dirt and surrounded by the locals. Laney eyed the woman in front of her. Lean and toned, with the air of someone who did this, and won, a lot she gave thanks for her Slayer strength. She'd take her no problem. But there was no harm in stringing it out a bit. The people wanted a show, and she wanted to give the guys one too.

Ten minutes in it started to rain.

As the dirt turned to mud and the rain fell on her half naked body Laney gave a small prayer of thanks to whatever God hung around this planet. She was practically mud wrestling another woman, dressed in what may as well have been nothing now it was wet. Who needed a killer dress.

Twenty minutes later she was stood in front of the High Priestess, the rain still pelting down on her head and shoulders.

"You are a fine warrior"

"Thank you"

"It takes great control and power to hold back as you did"

Laney raised an eyebrow.

"I have trained many. I recognise this for what it was"

Laney nodded "If my strength was not superior I may well have lost. She is skilled and strong"

The woman smiled at her. "It is a great honour to form an alliance with a people who one such as you serve"

"Thank you" Laney took the offered scroll, head bowed.

"Please return to us any time you wish Warrior. We would have much to learn from each other"

Laney raised her head in surprise "Thank you. It is an honour to receive such an invitation"

The Priestess nodded "Perhaps you will join us for our evening meal? We will be celebrating the joining of our two people"

"It would be my pleasure but I will have to speak with my Commanding Officer first" 

"He commands you?"

"He tries"

The Priestess smiled "Now you must go and get warm and dry. Your men are anxious to speak with you"

Laney rolled her eyes "They always are"

The woman laughed, drawing surprised looks from the two men and several of her own people. "We have also found this"

Laney smiled and walked back down the steps towards the tent. John and Cam fell in behind her.

"And what witty remark made our new ally laugh so loud Princess?"

"You wouldn't find it funny"

"Uh huh"

She sighed as the warmth of the tent touched her skin and lifted her sodden hair so that John could help with the laces of her vest again. His fingers brushed her spine as he threaded the laces out of their hooks. Cam walked round to face her and she tipped her head to look at him.

"They want us to stay for the evening. Celebrate the agreement"

He nodded. "We'll go back to the gate before our next check in and let O'Neill know" He stepped forward and brushed a finger down her throat. "You strung that out a bit Laney"

The contact would have made her skin goose bump if she wasn't already cold. John was on his knees behind her now, threading through the last of the laces.

"They weren't all here to watch me knock her out with one punch. I gave them what they wanted"

"Hmm"

She felt the last of the laces fall and the back of the vest fall open. John stood "And us too"

"What?"

He slid his hands up her back and over her shoulders, capturing the straps. He held them there "Was that for our benefit too?"

"Yes, I froze my arse off and got mud in places it should never be just for you"

Cameron unclipped his vest and started unbuttoning his shirt "Then we should thank you, thoroughly"

John let go of the straps and she stood, unmoving, naked from the waist up, watching Cam shed his shirt and t-shirt. Behind her she could hear John doing the same. When they were done she stayed still, curious as to what would happen next. Then John's warmth was closer and he was brushing kisses down the back of her neck, his hands caressing her sides. She sighed and looked at Cam.

He stepped up to her and touched his lips against hers. She closed her eyes and parted her lips, inviting him in. He moaned quietly and stroked his tongue over hers, his hands joining John's. Soft, gentle trails of warmth over her sides and back.

Then John was on his knees again hands reaching round her waist to unhook the skirt and, if his groan was anything to go by, caress Cameron's crotch. The skirt slid off her hips and John began to run slick trails along the inside of her legs. When Cam broke the kiss she kept her eyes shut, enjoying the feel of their touches, the sound of their breathes. She let a small sound of pleasure escape her lips when a tongue circled one of her nipples, and again when it was engulfed by warm and wet.

Gun calloused fingers caressed over her other breast. "So beautiful" he breathed over her dampened nipple, causing her to shiver. Then his mouth replaced his hand on her other side and she revelled in his small moan.

John placed a soft kiss in the small of her back and slid a hand between her legs. Gently running his thumb over her, he swept across her sensitive spot and she rocked slightly. He growled quietly into her back. Sliding a finger inside her he moaned, but kept circling with his thumb. She allowed herself to groan quietly and rock onto him.

"Cameron" he said gruffly.

Cam lifted his head. She felt his warmth leave and heard the click of his belt buckle and BDU fly, then the laces of his boots snapping through the holes. John slid out of her and stood, bowing his head he began nipping up the side of her throat. Then she could hear him mimicking Cam's undressing.

"Open your eyes Princess" his voice was low and husky.

He was naked, tanned skin glistening in the low light of the tent, his pupils blown, erection standing out from his body. And she hadn't even touched him yet. He reached a hand out to her and pulled her around the screen, where a bed had been made up using pillows and throws. It seems the Priestess was anticipating their willingness to stay. Or that they'd be having sex after the fight. Maybe they could move here.

Cam pulled her down, stretching himself out next to her and lowering his head for another kiss. She sensed John's weight the other side of her and then felt his mouth trail down between her breasts, move over them, lathing her nipples already left sensitive from Cameron. She arched slightly into both of them, earning herself more moans. Cam reached down between her legs, finding her still warm and wet from John's touch.

"Shit baby"

She hummed. John lifted his head for a kiss and she slid her hands into the back of his hair. As he sucked her tongue into his mouth she rolled her hips onto Cam's hand and moaned.

"Christ" John broke off the kiss.

She looked at him with hooded eyes and licked her lips "Sit up"

He swallowed and pushed himself up. She pulled herself away from Cam and knelt between John's legs pressing another quick kiss to his lips. Then Laney dipped her head and ran her tongue up the underside of his cock, flicking the sensitive spot under the head as she passed.

"Shit"

She smiled at him, then began to draw lazy swirls up his length and gently suck on the head. Then she realised she hadn't felt Cam's touch.

Laney raised her head and looked for him. He was stretched out on his side still, watching them with beautifully darkened eyes, lazily stroking his cock.

"Are you joining us or not Cameron"

He raised his eyebrow. She gestured behind her with her head. He closed his eyes "You sure Princess"

"Yes…please"

Cam groaned.

"Hurry the fuck up Cam"

She looked at John and smiled "Exactly" Then she lowered her head again, bringing her hand up to stroke her fingernails over his balls.

"Fuck Cam. Get a bloody move on"

Cameron chuckled from behind her "Feeling the pressure there are we Sheppard"

Laney rolled her eyes and pushed back into him. He groaned. "Yeah, yeah ok"

Cam slowly thrust in and out of her, careful not to jog her mouth on John too much. The pace was tortuous, she was so turned on now it was ridiculous. She met John's gaze, winked at him, tilted her head and swallowed him down.

"Jesus fuck!"

She hummed, sending little vibrations around his length and he groaned. As she quickened her movements and took him down again and again his hands slid into her hair and his hips began to roll. God she loved doing this. When she felt him start to swell even more in her mouth she stopped halfway up, met his gaze and nodded.

"Shit" He tightened his grip in her hair and thrust upwards.

Laney heard Cam groan behind her and then felt him speed up a little, his hand reaching around to circle her. She felt her muscles flutter around him.

"Christ Princess, you have no idea how hot you both look right now" She moaned around John and rocked back.

Then John was hitting the back of her throat with more force, quicker and quicker, groaning her name and then he suddenly pulled back and came. "God Laney!"

And then Cam was speeding up, not having to worry about her being on John anymore and his hand was still between her legs, circling and pushing. She thrust back into him, the pleasure from sucking John off had made her wet and hot and so close to coming she could reach out and touch it. She whispered his name and he altered his angle.

Then Laney was coming around him, her muscles drawing him in deeper, holding him fast. His hips stuttered and he managed one more shaky thrust before she was filled with warm and wet.

Cam lifted his chest off her back and pulled them both to the side. John was still half sat up on the cushions. He looked down at them and grinned. "Check in is in 30"

"Fuck"

 

Laney stepped into her shower at Jack's house and gave a small sigh of pleasure as the hot water hit her shoulders. The sparring match off world yesterday and the sex after, plus the sex after they'd excused themselves from the celebrations, had left her muscles pleasantly aching. She smiled to herself. At least she'd left them in no doubt that she'd have no problem with the physical side of their relationship. She closed her eyes and tipped her head back under the spray.

 

Cameron stepped into the shower behind John and ran his hands over the man's back, kneading his muscles. John gave a small moan.

He chuckled "She broken you Shep?"

"Very funny old man. You can talk, you practically passed out last night"

"The downside of sex with a Slayer. Unending stamina"

John moaned again "She's gonna kill us"

Cam chuckled again and dropped a kiss to the back of John's neck.

 

Three Months Later

Laney sat at their kitchen table and tapped her phone thoughtfully. Neither of them were answering their office phones and she knew their mobile's wouldn't work under the mountain.

She typed out a text and sent it to Cam, he'd pick it up when he left.

'An old friend called, needs me. I'll be gone a couple of days. Tried to phone both of you. Call when you get this. Sorry'

She sighed, they were gonna be pissed but they were just going to have to deal with it.

Twenty minutes later she was driving towards South Dakota, her bag thrown on the back seat.

 

"You ready Shep?"

"I've been ready since they fucking dialled in Cam" He sighed, running his hands through his hair "What a fuck up"

"Yeah, I know. Can't believe you could have been stuck out there with them for the past two years"

"Maybe if I'd gone it would have been different. That McKay guy seemed pretty adamant that the other Atlantis expedition they'd encountered were more successful because of my presence"

Cam frowned "Do you wish you'd gone?"

John looked at him "Of course not. But it's hard to hear a decision you made over two years ago could have caused so much damage"

"He shouldn't have told you. I wanted to punch him in the face"

John grinned "You're hot when you get all protective"

Cam rolled his eyes "Try telling our girl that"

"Come on, lets go find her. I've been looking forward to wrapping myself around her all day"

"Shit John, I don't know which one you of is worse"

"You love it"

As they stepped outside the mountain Cam's phone beeped.

"For fuck's sake"

 

Two hours into her drive her phone rang. Laney swallowed down the sick feeling, she had not been looking forward to this conversation.

"Hello"

"You better have a fucking good explanation for this Princess. You couldn't have waited a couple of hours?"

"No. I'm sorry. It's kinda important" She squirmed in her seat.

"And just who is this old friend?"

She gripped the steering wheel. "Dean"

She must have been on speaker because John spoke, his voice cold "As in your ex Dean?"

"Yeah"

"I thought that was done with"

"It is. He um, rang, a few hours ago. This is really important, he needs me"

"And if I told you we needed you would you turn your car around?"

"It's not like that" She whispered.

"Then what is it fucking like!"

"Don't shout at me! I tried to call, I left messages, it's not like I just took off!"

"Oh well thank you very fucking much for thinking of us! You have any idea how this looks?!"

She hissed in a breath "You think I'd do that"

"I don't know what to think Lane. What's so important you had to up and leave straight away?"

She hesitated.

"Laney I'm losing patience"

"Losing?" She sneered.

"Don't push it"

She sighed "There was a car crash. A truck side swiped Dean's car. His Dad and brother died"

Silence.

"Hunters request that their bodies be burnt by a family member or another hunter. They have superstitions about them being used by the things they hunt"

"You're going to help your ex set fire to the dead bodies of his family?" Cameron's voice was flat.

"Yes. But I'm also going to say goodbye. John and Sammy were my friends. They saved my life more than once"

John's voice floated into her car "Fine. But if you're not back in two days we're coming to get you. AND if this brings back your nightmares I'm going to be seriously pissed"

"Fine" she snapped, and turned off her phone. Swiping the tears from her cheeks she choked back a sob.


	4. Chapter Four

Laney stood on Bobby Singer's porch in front of the two men, her bag at her feet.

She pulled Bobby into a hug.

"Get off me you soft ijit"

She laughed. "You love it really" Then she turned serious "Take care of yourself ok Singer? And tell me if this 'ijit' gets himself into any trouble" She gestured to Dean with her head.

Bobby snorted and went inside. Before he closed the door he turned to her "Look after yourself Slayer"

She nodded.

When the door clicked shut she turned to Dean. He looked at her, eyes dark.

"Please let yourself live Dean. Don't go back to this shit. Grieve, get drunk, punch walls, screw hot chicks, whatever. But then try and find some happiness ok?'

He chuckled darkly. "Easier said than done sweetheart"

"I did it"

"Did you?"

His question made her stomach roll a little. She licked her lips "Yes"

Laney rested a hand on his cheek and placed a kiss on the other. "Goodbye Dean"

He watched her, frowning slightly, as she threw her bag in the backseat, got in her car and drove away.

 

Jack looked at the two men slumped at his kitchen table and sighed. He scrubbed his hands over his face. It had been a week since Laney had set off for South Dakota. They knew that's where she had gone because she'd text Cam the address and phone number. From that they'd decided that at least on the night she'd arrived at Bobby Singer's she'd still been intending to come home.

When John and Cam had woken on the third morning and not found her at home, or Jack's, they'd tried calling her. Her mobile was 'out of service', and when they'd tried to track her using the SGC locator that was implanted into every employee her signal couldn't be found.

Cam had then called the number she'd texted him, and when Jack and John had finally managed to wrestle the phone away from him, they'd learnt that she'd left there the morning before.

"They're lying, covering for her. Or keeping her there" Cam had raged.

"For god's sake Mitchell calm down. Firstly, they sounded just as pissed and worried as us. Secondly, there is no way in hell two of them, one of which is in his sixties, would be able to keep her there" Jack'd glared at him. "Thirdly, and this is important so listen up Colonel, people won't tell you things if you threaten to 'hunt them down, take them out and send their bodies where no one will ever find them'"

John snorted. Cam turned on him "You finding this funny Sheppard"

John rolled his eyes "No Cameron I'm not finding this funny. I'm pissed and I'm shit scared, but yelling at the only other people who may have an idea of where she is or how to find her won't help"

Now it was four days later and there was no way they could write this off as Laney deciding to take a little detour. She'd gone, whether by choice or not.

Dean was attempting to track her but "If a Slayer doesn't want to be found you don't find her. And if somethings taken her then it's really fucking huge and will kick our arse's"

Bobby had given her description to every hunter he knew and pulled in every favour he could think of. Jack had been impressed how the far the old hunters influence went.

For their part he, Mitchell and Sheppard had contacted every old friend, ally and person who owed them big. Mitchell's family alone stretched across three continents. Jack secretly wondered if one day the world would be ruled by a Mitchell.

Cam sighed "If she was hurt,captured or killed we'd have heard by now. Plus there's not many enemies out there who would know to check for the implant. She's taken herself off. I have no fucking idea why, and quite frankly, I don't really fucking care right now"

"Mitchell!" John glared at him.

"No John. She's done here" He looked at Jack "I'm sorry Sir but I'm out. I should have listened to myself in the beginning. She's too much like Vala"

He stood up and walked out.

"I'm sorry Jack"

"Don't be son, he's tired and angry. And scared shitless. If she walked through that door right not even I'm sure whether I'd hug her or punch her"

"If you punch her I'll kick your arse…Sir"

They both looked at the door.

John laughed wearily "I'd better get back to him. Call me if you hear anything Sir"

"Of course. And it's Jack"

John nodded and left.

 

The morning Laney left Bobby's she drove fifty miles east out of town and booked into a motel.

She sat at the small table and placed the candle she'd bought in the middle, she lay the necklace she'd taken from Bobby's next to it and flicked open her knife. She made an incision in her left arm and, cursing, dug out the implant. She crushed it under her boot.

Laney took a swig of whiskey and, holding a needle in the flame of the candle, began to stitch her wound. After she'd finished she cut the thread with her knife, poured herself another drink and lit a cigarette. She stared into the flame.

She really hadn't been sure she'd actually do it until she stood on Bobby's porch and kissed Dean goodbye. Laney knew that if she went ahead with her plan she was throwing everything away in Colorado. Now, with her phone at the bottom of a lake and the implant ground to dust, she'd knew she'd never be welcome back in the Springs. She was alone. The Slayer line had come full circle and stopped with her.

A tear fell from her eye and she swiped it away angrily. She'd let Jack know she was ok when she was far enough away. She owed him more but couldn't give it. She didn't let herself think about Cam and John.

Laney poured another glass. 

As she'd stood in front of the two burning pyres Bobby had told her everything that had happened while Dean sat at her feet, working his way through a bottle of whiskey. He told her about the demon Ruby and how she'd tormented the Winchesters for months, he told her about the yellow-eyed man who'd tainted so many lives, including Sammy's. The bodies of her friends burning before her Bobby's words had wound round her heart and her soul, causing the Slayer deep inside to rattle it's cage and scream for blood.

She traced her finger over the pendant, it was Ruby's, she'd known it at the first touch. It had slid out of the book Laney had chosen in Bobby's library, looking for something to read while Dean slept off his latest binge. It was fate, and Slayers knew all about fate. And destiny, and duty.

Laney felt sick. She'd turned her back on her duty, on her destiny. Ignored the call from deep inside her for too long, trying to forge a life for herself. She'd been stupid and selfish. People had died, had been hurt because she wanted something she could never have.

Now she was back. She was going to give the Slayer the blood it called for, starting with that bitch Ruby. Then she was going to hunt down every other black-eyed fucker until they were all dead. 

She downed the last of the bottle and made her way over to the bed. She planned to drive all night, she'd need a lot of distance between her and Dean when he began to track her.

 

Two days after Cameron had walked out of Jack's house there was a knock on his and John's door. John's head shot up and Cam felt his pulse quicken.

'Please, please..'

"Oh Sir um, hi"

Jack eyed him curiously. "Mitchell, can I come in"

Cam flash backed to the man standing in his doorway all those months ago. 'I should have said no'.

"Mitchell?"

He shook his head "Uh, sorry Sir. Yeah, come in"

Jack nodded and stepped past him.

"Jack? Is she …"

"Sorry son"

"Right" Cam watched John sit back on the couch and once again got the urge to punch the Slayer in the face.

Cameron moved round and sat next to him. He raised his eyebrow at Jack.

"I've just had Dean on the phone, cursing out your girl"

"Not ours" mumbled Cam, and got an elbow to the ribs "Ow!"

John rolled his eyes at him and waved for Jack to go on.

"Thank you John. He's been trying to track her south-west, towards Colorado, but after getting a phone call from Bobby he changed direction yesterday. Turns out she headed east straight from Bobby's. Spent a day rested up in a motel about fifty miles from his house"

"Fuck"

"They know why?"

Jack rubbed his temples "They seem to think she's hunting the thing that killed Dean's family. A pendant belonging to the demon is missing from Bobby's house"

"Fuck"

"She can track using just a necklace?"

"Apparently a Slayer can pick up residuals, or something" Jack waved his hand around "Short answer, yes"

"Fuck"

"Mitchell, are you stuck on the same track or something"

Cam glared at John "Why didn't she just say something John? You know, sorry guys I'm going to be gone a bit longer. I'm hunting down the son of a bitch who killed my friends"

"Because CAMERON, we chewed her out about taking off for two days to help out her friend. If she decided she had to do this she'd have known that we'd have asked her not to" John held out a finger "And THEN she'd have had to CHOOSE"

Cam shrugged "She CHOSE anyway John. And this way she didn't have to tell us to our faces. Thanks for everything but I'm feeling loads better now so I'm fucking off to continue saving the world and snapping the necks of bad guys"

"Cam?"

"No John"

Jack cleared his throat "If anyones interested Dean thinks he knows where she's headed"

 

Laney fingered the pendant and raised her other hand to knock on the door of the apartment in front of her. A pretty blonde answered.

"Hi, can I help you?" She was smiling. Laney fought the urge to punch her teeth out.

"Ruby?"

"Um, yes. Sorry do I know you"

"I'm a friend of the Winchesters" Laney held out the pendant.

The girls smile turned cruel, her eyes blackened "Oh honey, you have no idea who you're crossing here. But you will have when I'm done with you"

"Actually, I think you'll find" said Laney as she shoved her back into her apartment "That you've got that the wrong way round"

 

Dean stood across the road and watched her. She was so intent on her prey she hadn't sensed him. He knew stepping between a Slayer and a demon would be one hell of a painful way to go but he had to try. Get her back to the men who'd moved Heaven and Earth to find her. It was his fault she was here. He should never have called her.

As she disappeared inside the apartment block he crossed the road, moving his phone up to his ear.

"Got her"

 

Laney eyed the girl she'd strapped to the chair. Apart from a couple of bruises Ruby had gotten whilst trying to fight off the Slayer she was looking ok. Laney nodded in satisfaction.

"You're strong" said the demon.

"Thank you" Laney began to draw a devils trap around herself.

"No offence honey but I think you've got us a little muddled up"

Laney finished and stood up in the middle of the circle. She smiled "Oh, I don't think so honey"

Ruby's eyes widened and she screamed.

 

Hearing the scream Dean swore and flew up the last two steps. Running down the corridor he kicked open the door, colt in hand.

Ruby was tied to a chair, head fallen forward. Laney was stood in front of her, a crude devils trap drawn around her. She turned to face him, eyes black, her lips lifted in a cruel smile.

"Hello Dean" she tilted her head "What's a Slayer?"

"Fuck"

 

General O'Neill, Colonel Mitchell and Lt Colonel Sheppard transported down from the Daedalus to Dean's phone signal.

He was tied to a chair, tape over his mouth. Jack stepped in front of him and ripped it off.

"Shit!" His voice was hoarse "Fucking crazy arse bitch of a Slayer"

"Watch it son"

Dean eyed Jack "You must be the godfather"

John snorted.

 

Twenty minutes later Dean was looking out over Earth, suspended below him.

"Space travel huh?"

"Yep"

"Well, you learn something new, and all that" He turned to face the three men.

Jack raised an eyebrow at him "You're taking this rather well"

Dean shrugged "My life's not exactly normal"

"Good point"

Mitchell folded his arms "What happened in there Winchester? What happened to the plan?"

Dean rolled his eyes "I told you you can't plan too much when it comes to shit like this. Especially when it comes to your girl, she's always been, um, original in her methods"

Mitchell frowned at him "Original in her methods?"

Dean sighed and sat on the ledge, his back to Earth. "All Slayers, even if they're never called, have something that makes them stand out, makes them strong. You know a woman who has picked herself up after having seven shades of shit kicked out of her, who has survived torture or devastating loss? Odds are she was a potential Slayer. But there are some where the Slayer in them is even stronger, calls even louder"

"The Slayer in them? Aren't they all Slayer" John asked.

"Didn't Lane ever tell you about the first slayer, how she was made?"

John frowned "No"

"Huh. Well let me tell you man, it's fucked up. A coupla thousand years ago these creepy guys calling themselves the Shadowmen chain a fifteen year old girl to a rock, call up a few of the strongest fucking demons they can name and force their essence into her. It wrapped itself around her mind and soul, rushed through her blood, twisted round her DNA. And so the first Slayer was born" Dean gave a dark chuckle "Except she couldn't handle it. The essence gave her great strength, speed,etc, etc but it also drove her insane. It filled her with the demons rage and hate, it's unending capacity for violence and cruelty. The first Slayer was a killer, pure and simple. Through the generations the strength of the essence has dulled. The Slayers rough edges have been smoothed, they've become civilised"

He held out a hand to stop them interrupting.

"But in a handful of girls it seems to find a better hold. Laney's one of them. So were Buffy and Faith, the two longest living Slayers, and the most powerful. Until they had their arse's slaughtered in that fucking massacre. Lane once described it as like having a monster trapped in a cage deep inside her. When she felt scared or angry it would rattle it's cage, calling to be let out. That's what you're dealing with now, pure Slayer, you couple that with Lane's smarts you're fucked"

He bowed his head "She wants every fucking demon dead and she's gonna do it creatively. And she won't stop. Not til she's dead or they all are"

"This is, well it's just not possible. It just sounds fucking ridiculous"

Dean fixed Jack with his gaze. "That's because you've never seen her fight her natural prey, you haven't seen her live and work in her world. You three took her into yours, you helped quiet the monster. That's why I've been trying to find her for you. Even though a week ago I fucking cremated my Dad and my brother. You three, you gave her the chance to be her, to use her power without having to live in the dark. She deserves that, hell they all did, but she's the first in a long time that actually had a good shot at it"

"And yet she left" Cam's voice was cold.

"She didn't have a choice. Once she touched that stupid necklace she wouldn't have been able to resist"

"Because of the residuals" Frowned Jack.

"Yeah, something like that"

"So what happened down there?"

Dean rolled his eyes "Actually I'm not sure. One minute I'm facing down Ruby in Laney's body, her eyes all black.."

"What!"

"Hey dude, I wasn't finished"

"Don't call me dude"

Dean snorted. "AS I was saying. The next thing the whole place is shaking and Lane's got this look on her face, kind of like she's looking inwards you know, and then she closes her eyes. When she opens them again they're back to being green and she's stepping out of the trap that was holding her as Ruby. And then I'm pretty sure she punched me"

Jack quirked a smile.

"Hey! Being punched by a Slayer hurts you know. That's the fourth time" He looked at Cam and John "You probably don't want to know" They narrowed their eyes at him.

"I wake up tied to a chair, mouth taped up and she's standing in front of me"

 

"Dean Winchester" she smiled "I'm impressed you found me, and a little pissed. I'm quite sure I said goodbye to you only a few days ago" She sat down "Your mouths taped up because sometimes you don't know when to keep it fucking shut and I don't have much time thanks to your little phone call earlier. Don't worry about the girl Ruby was possessing, no permanent damage, except for a few nightmares probably. And we all get those don't we Dean?" She sighed. "If you manage to keep your mouth in check I'm sure Jack'll offer you a job. You should take it. It's fun there, the people are nice and you'll still get to kill some bad guys. They'll probably give you some big old guns too"

Laney stood. "I'm back which means you don't have to hunt these fuckers anymore. I'm gonna find them one by one and make them die in interesting and exciting ways" Her expression turned serious. "I've been selfish Dean, ignoring my calling, my duty, my destiny and because of that people have died. I can't let that happen anymore"

She trailed her finger down his cheek "Tell them I'm sorry. Sorry I couldn't stay like I promised, sorry I couldn't be both theirs and a Slayer. The Slayer"

He watched her walk to the door and turn around "You should think about finding a nice girl Winchester, maybe a coupla kids. You'd make a good Dad, you know, if you can curb the swearing and drinking"

And then she was gone.

 

Cam dropped his head in hands "Fuck"

"Man, I'm sorry"

"If she hadn't come to you.."

"I know I'm sorry. I'll keep tracking, keep watching. She can't keep on forever"

"No"

The other three men looked at Jack in surprise.

"We leave her be. She has made her choice. If she chooses to come back one day then we'll deal with it. If not…" He shrugged.

"Jack?"

"I'm sorry John but what do you think will happen if we keep following, keep trying to drag her back. I can imagine we'll get our arse's handed to us and she'll never trust us again"

"I can see why you're the General"

Jack looked at Dean and sighed "Now, about that job"

 

Six Months Later

Laney stood in front of the mirror in her hotel room naked and studied herself. She was more lean and toned now, she was hunting practically every night and it was making her stronger, sharper, faster. The past two months spent travelling Europe had left her with a light tan. She traced the white line down her breastbone and between her breasts. She didn't need to look to know it curved under her left breast.

She'd made a some mistakes in the first few weeks spent hunting them. That one had been the worst. Lying in the forest, the demon dead beside her, she'd felt her blood pouring from her, felt herself getting weaker and weaker. There, dirty and alone and dying she had cried for the life she'd left behind. She'd cried because if she somehow managed to survive this she couldn't go and curl up between them. She'd sworn to herself if she made it she'd call them and beg them to come and get her. She'd woken as dawn broke, in pain, cold and sick, but alive. She never called.

Laney had let her hair grow even longer and it fell to the top of her arse. She sighed, she'd have to cut it soon, it was teetering precariously on the line between sexy and ridiculous. She turned and watched herself shake her fingers through it, causing it to brush across her back and shimmer in the lamp light. They'd always loved her hair.

Turning back she tried to decide if they'd find her hot like this. She'd lost some of her curves and had a couple of new scars. She bit her lip. She could walk in there looking like a fucking supermodel and they wouldn't find her hot. They wouldn't think anything about her, apart from maybe getting an urge to punch her. She'd fucked up whatever it was they were working towards, and she had a feeling it would have been something special. 

Stepping into her red dress and sliding on her shoes she walked out into the warm evening air of Rome. She wondered if any demons would try and pick her up tonight. It sure as hell saved a lot of time.

Sitting outside the bar Laney lit a cigarette and perused the crowds moving past her. Pretty people, ugly people, happy couples, happy singles, sad singles. Laney smirked to herself and took a sip of wine.

"Laney?"

She whirled in her chair and her mouth dropped open "Sarah?"

The woman studied her cooly. "Are you here with someone?"

"No"

Sarah nodded and sat down at her table "Um actually.."

"Shut up" Sarah stole a cigarette.

"Excuse me?"

"You disappear one day six months ago and I figure that something important came up. In fact that was confirmed to me a little over a month ago but then I see you here. What are you doing, taking an extended fucking vacation?"

"Hey!" Laney narrowed her eyes "Who confirmed?"

"Dean Winchester"

"No fucking way!"

"Umhmm. Fucking in every way actually"

Laney grinned. "Lucky girl"

"Lucky boy"

She snorted "So he took the job"

"Yeah, he fits right in"

"I bet he does"

Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Hang on is he here?"

"No, don't worry. He's on duty. I thought I'd treat myself to a few days in the sun. Get away for a bit"

Laney nodded. They sat in silence.

Sarah sighed "You're not going to ask me are you?"

"Ask you what?"

"You're a bitch, you know that"

"Fuck you"

"You're not going to ask but I'm going to tell you anyway. They're ok"

"Ok"

"The first month they were so quiet everyone thought they were going to have a breakdown. The next two months they were fucking assholes, yelling at everyone and generally being huge pains in the arse. Now they seem to be doing ok"

"Good"

"Vala's back"

"Huh. Well maybe they'll get that shot at happiness, good for them"

Sarah rolled her eyes "YOU were their shot at happiness you fucking idiot. Now, I'm not saying I know for sure they're not taking Val to bed for a bit of comfort but I do know that they never felt about her as they FEEL about you. It's not too late, yet"

"Sarah" she sighed.

"No Lane. I know you've got this whole I'm the Slayer, I have to be alone, fight the bad guys emo shit going on but that's not you. At least not all of you. You look great, if they were here now I'm not sure if they'd actually be able to wait to give you a bollocking before tearing your clothes off, but you look sad. You look like you did when you first arrived at the SGC" She gestured at Laney's chest "I'm sure this is just the tip of the fucked up iceberg"

"I nearly died" Laney whispered, tracing the scar. "I lay there in the dirt, covered in demon blood, and my own, and everything was getting dark. All I wanted was to be curled up between them, safe and warm"

"Oh Lane honey"

Laney looked up "But I can't have that, even if they would give it. You didn't see me a couple of months ago Sarah. I was tapped into my Slayer, I was a monster. I can't bring that back to them"

"When you're with them that never happens. Dean said they quieted the monster"

"How very poetic of him"

"Lane, you need them honey, as much as they need you"

 

Sarah knocked on his door.

"Hey honey I'm home"

He grinned at her and pulled her inside. Sliding his arms around her, he nipped at her neck. "Missed you"

"You missed the sex"

"That too"

Dean raised his head and brushed his lips against hers. She opened up for him and enjoyed him reclaiming her mouth for a while. Then she slid her hands down his chest and gently shoved at him.

He stepped back and frowned "What's wrong sweetheart?"

She sighed and thought about whether this was a good idea.

"Sarah?"

"I know where Laney is"

 

As Jack pulled up in front of his house he noticed a figure hunched on his doorstep. He jumped out and walked to the bottom of the steps. He blinked and looked again "Laney?"

"Hi Jack"

He nodded and walked up the steps to the door. He paused "You coming in hon?"

"I'm not sure"

He sighed and moved to sit beside her "You made it this far, not like you not to see things through"

Laney snorted "Funny guy"

"Honey, please come in"

"I'm scared"

"Lane, please..."

She jumped up "No, I'm sorry Jack. This was a mistake" She gave him a quick hug "Sorry"

He stood up as she ran down the steps "I'll stay in touch this time, I promise" She called.

Jack swore and ran after her "Laney please stop. Each time you do this it'll get harder and harder"

She turned "Not planning on doing it again. I should never have listened to her. Shit"

Jack frowned "Listened to who"

"Whom. And I'm not telling you"

"Don't be childish"

"I've pretty much got it down pat now"

"For fuck's sake Lane"

She threw her bag into the back seat of her rental and went to open the drivers door. His hand slammed it shut.

"Don't make me knock you out Jack"

"Go for it Lane, things can't get much worse can they?"

"What the hell does that mean!?"

"It means it'll be just another fuck up on your long list. Go on do it. Prove that you don't belong here"

 

Cam and John were heading over to Jack's to watch the game and have a few beers. As they drove towards the house they saw two people standing outside a car in front of Jack's house.

As they got closer they watched Laney pull back, ready to punch Jack.

"Shit!"

Cam spun the truck blocking the car in and jumped out.

"Laney don't!"

 

"Go on Slayer, now you can show lover boy just how much you're not worthy" 

Laney swung.

And was tackled by a very pissed off Lt Colonel. She easily shucked him off her, getting in an elbow for good measure and rolled to her feet.

Only to be taken down again by Mitchell.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He yelled at her.

"He asked for it!" She yelled back. Then flipped him over her head, hearing his groan as he hit the ground. Standing she brushed off her clothes and looked at the three men on the ground.

"Your hand to hand sucks" she informed them. 

"Yeah well, our trainer is a selfish bitch and took off"

Laney nodded and went over to the truck blocking her in. She pushed it out the way and got in her car.

Sheppard groaned "Fuck, she's gotten quicker"

"And you've gotten slower. You've been hit by a double whammy"

He looked up at her.

"I've been hit by a crazy arse Slayer"

She shrugged "Same thing"

"Bitch"

She sighed and left him on the ground. Hiking Jack over her shoulder she opened his door and dumped him on the sofa. Ignoring the men in the doorway she went into the kitchen, searching out the whiskey she knew was around somewhere.

"Ah hah!"

Stalking back into the living room she stood by the sofa "Jack I'm stealing your best whiskey and taking it for a ride in your truck"

"No you're fucking not" came a mumbled reply from the sofa.

She smiled and crouched down beside him "Want me to pour you a glass Pops?"

"Very fucking funny….yes"

As she poured him a glass Mitchell came to stand behind her "So what did he do to ask for it?"

"He actually asked for it, twice"

"Really?"

Jack groaned and sat up "Really"

"Well, there's your mistake right there"

"Fuck off Mitchell"

"No, my backs killing me from attempting to save you. Share your medicine General"

Laney rolled her eyes and grabbed two more glasses. Filling them and placing them in front of John and Cam, she put the bottle on the table.

"Not joining us"

"No. You all attempted to thwart my escape. I have now sufficiently crippled you so I'll be on my merry way"

"I don't think so Princess"

"What are you going to do Colonel, glare me to death"

John snorted. "Lane get a glass and be nice to Mitchell. You did just break him with embarrassing ease"

"Hey, so says the man wheezing in his chair"

"I see you've all matured nicely since I've been gone"

John looked at her "Glass, then sit" He pointed to the floor by his feet.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Don't make me shoot you Laney"

"Fine"

Sat on the floor in-between the V of John's legs she swirled her glass and looked at Jack. He leant back on the couch, spreading his arms across the back. "Where have you been?"

She shrugged "Mexico, then Europe"

"Europe? America run out of things for you to kill?"

She glared at Mitchell "The Slayers have been based here for years, there's hundreds of hunters. Most demons don't bother with us" She tilted her head "Mexico was pretty quiet too. Think it's all the crazy bandits"

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Why are you back?"

"She argued a good case"

"Ah, yes the mysterious 'she'. Who exactly is this who has the power to talk a stubborn Slayer into coming home?"

Laney rolled her eyes "Sarah"

Mitchell furrowed his brow "Cole? Lieutenant Cole?!"

"Yep"

"So that's all it took, a little girl talk, and you're back?"

She flipped him off.

John ran a strand of her hair through his fingers. "Are you staying?"

"I don't know"

Jack leaned forward "Try again Lane"

She licked her lips and stayed silent.

Cam pressed two fingers into his forehead "Yes or no Princess. I can't speak for Jack but if you go I certainly don't want to hear from you again"

The seconds ticked by. "Yes"

Cam nodded. "Good. Later there's gonna be words, and probably some yelling, but for now I want to know what you've been doing. Everything"

Laney drained her glass. "After I killed Ruby I drove straight down to the border…."

"How did you kill Ruby by the way?" interrupted John "Dean said she was in your body"

"Only because I let her in"

Jack glared at her and refilled her glass. "You LET a demon take possession of you"

"She had all the information I needed to hunt her siblings. I was going to go for good old fashioned torture but Dean's little phone call to you meant I didn't have the time. Had to come up with a new plan"

"Torture"

"Yes Cameron. Inflicting pain to extract information"

"I know what it fucking is Lane"

She shrugged "I trapped myself in the Devils Trap so that if it went wrong Dean'd be able to stop me, uh, her. Then I rummaged through her twisted little mind and once I had what I needed I killed her"

"You killed her while she was still in you? How is that even possible?"

"I already have one demon inside of me John, and it doesn't like to share head space"

"The Slayer killed her"

"Point to Jack"

"Shit Laney"

 

An hour later Laney pushed herself off the floor and made her way into the kitchen to dig out another bottle. She'd only got as far as Madrid and the guys were getting quieter and quieter. She frowned to herself. They'd wanted to know, wanted a look at what she really was so she'd shown them. Part of her hoped they'd tell her to leave after all.

Feeling a drop of sweat roll down her chest she pulled off her jumper and dumped it on the back of a chair. As she walked back in John lifted his head and his eyes narrowed. "What's that?"

"Whats what?"

He tapped his chest. She looked down. Shit, she'd forgotten she'd been trying to hide that for now.

"It's a scar John. You three have plenty of them"

"Yes, but we don't heal like freaking Superman Princess. Must've been deep"

She sighed "It was"

"That's all we're getting?"

Laney rolled her eyes.

"You want more? Fine. I lay in the middle of a forest in England bleeding out, all because some stupid demon had failed to politely mention he had a big fuck off sword, then I passed out. Then I woke up six hours later and did a little celebratory dance because I wasn't dead"

Silence.

"Not enough for you? No? Well, then I used the shirt of the demon I'd killed, which was a horrible paisley by the way, they all have such terrible fashion sense, to bind my chest back together. I then enjoyed a delightful two hour stroll through said forest back to my cabin where I passed out again for a couple of hours. When I woke up my body had helpfully begun to heal itself and I took a long hot shower then slept for two days"

They looked at her.

"What, you think being a Slayer is all about kicking arse and witty comebacks. We get hurt, we die. If we didn't there'd be little old ladies wandering around kicking the shit out of demons. Which actually, when you think about it, would be pretty funny to watch" She shook her head "We're not invincible or immortal. We have an advantage and sometimes it works for us, sometimes it doesn't"

She knelt on the floor and grabbed her glass, filling it to the top "I know I'm the one who's got the most to apologise for, make up for. But you all need to understand what having me around means. Sometimes I'll come home beaten up, sometimes I'll do something stupid if I think it'll help me save someone or kill another bad guy, sometimes I won't be there when you wake up"

"Didn't you ever wonder why, out of 135 hot kick arse women, only two children were born in ten years? And one of those was due to a miscalculation" She smirked "We're not easy to be with, we can't offer the white picket fence, 2.4 children stuff"

"Laney..."

She held out her hand, drink gripped between two fingers, and stood "I'm going for a shower and then I'm going to sleep for at least eight hours straight. I've told you I'll stay, now you need to decide"

She turned on her heel and walked towards the guest room.

 

"She's different"

"No Mitchell. She's back to how she used to be. I've always loved her, I don't need to decide" Jack stood "Feel free to finish the bottle, you're probably gonna need it"

 

Laney lay on her side, back to the door, in the middle of Jack's guest bed. She sighed to herself, she hadn't been able to break the habit of sleeping in the middle of the bed whilst she'd been gone. Eventually she'd taken to piling the pillows around her to try and mimic the warmth of the two absent bodies. She buried deeper in her makeshift cocoon and her eyes began to drop.

She woke to darkness and the feel of the pillows being removed, she frowned and tensed. Then two warm bodies slid in next to her.

"Easy Princess, it's just us"


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have briefly mentioned Purple Hearts in this chapter. I understand what an honour it is to receive one and have the greatest respect for those that serve their country. I hope my use of their name doesn't offend anyone.
> 
> So reading through this fic today I noticed I had uploaded the previous chapter twice, duh! Here is the actual Chapter 5, hopefully it will make more sense now! Sorry to readers who have already visited and read ;-)

Taking her coffee out to the deck at the back of Jack's house she sat and lit a cigarette.

"Smoking again I see"

She turned to Jack and stuck her tongue out. "Very mature Lane"

She pointed to herself "Childish, remember" 

He rolled his eyes.

She took in his uniform "Going to work?"

"My employees keep dying, going missing, turning up again. It plays hell with my paperwork"

She snorted. "Well then, I'm feeling charitable, you don't have to try and work me back into the system"

"I'm pretty sure they don't pay you to Slay"

"I have money"

He raised his eyebrows "Do I want to know?"

"Probably not"

Jack sat down opposite her. "Actually I have a vacancy I have in mind for you"

"Oh this went so well the last time"

He rolled his eyes again.

"I don't want back on SG-1 Jack. I think that was half the problem last time. We were working together, living together, having s.."

"Stop right there! And it's not SG-1 I have in mind. John's team leader now and he's got a full unit. Cam's training pilots"

She raised her eyebrows.

"You'll have to ask them. I'm talking about SG-22"

"Uh who?"

"Vala's team"

Laney choked on her coffee "You have the craziest fucking ideas Jack. How did you get to be General?"

"I killed all my superiors"

She grinned at him. "Let me talk to the guys about this ok?"

"Very sensible Slayer"

She rolled her eyes.

 

Half hour later she was on her second coffee and cigarette.

"Hope that's not breakfast Princess"

She turned to look up at Cam "And if it is?"

He glared at her and held out his hand "Come on I'll make waffles"

She let herself be pulled up, grumbling "It took me nearly two months to lose all those waffle breakfasts"

"I can see that. Time to put them back on"

"They make me slow"

"Stop bitching"

Laney sat at the table and watched him move around the kitchen. She wanted to ask why he was training pilots but decided he'd tell her when he was ready. She wasn't exactly one to talk when it came to sharing. She followed the outline of the muscles in his back as he stretched forward to reach something and his t-shirt tightened over them.

"Checking me out Princess?"

She rolled her eyes "You're in good shape for someone who's not running for their lives off-world a couple of times a week"

"Thank you. And how do you find shit like this out"

"We're in Jack's house idiot"

"Ah"

She stayed silent, waiting.

"You remember the crash I told you about, my injuries?" She nodded "Three months ago a grown over mine shaft collapsed underneath me while we were off-world. I was trapped under a beam for a few hours before they were able to winch me out. Played up my old injury. I recovered but next time I might not. John and I decided that me stepping away from the action was the best way to prevent that"

Laney felt a little sick "If I was there they wouldn't have had to wait. I'm sorry Cameron"

"Hey, we had plenty of accidents with you there. In fact probably more owing to the fact you lack any kind of diplomatic skill" She glared at him.

He grinned and brushed his lips against hers. Laney frowned "This doesn't feel like a bollocking"

"I'm working up to it. And, FYI, I'm still in good shape owing to letting Teal'c beat me up three times a week"

"Teal'c is back?"

"Yep, he's Johns second in command"

"JOHN"S in charge of TEAL'C"

"Hey!" John frowned at her from the doorway. "Do I smell waffles?"

Laney snorted "You two are obsessed"

As Cam turned back to the stove John moved into the kitchen and stopped behind her. He ran her hair through his hands. "We need to do something about this sweetheart. It's hot but I nearly choked to death in the night"

Cam laughed.

"Yeah, yeah I know. I haven't gotten around to cutting it lately" She tilted her head back to look at him "Fetch some scissors"

"I'm not cutting your hair Lane"

"If you can refrain from giving me a buzz cut it'll be fine" She waved her hands at him to shoo him away.

John sighed "You sure"

"Yep, just split in half with your hands and cut above your fingers. About shoulder blade length. BELOW the shoulder blade"

 

Shaking out her hair Laney sighed "Much better"

"You're welcome, and I agree" John pulled her into his lap and took a bite of waffle.

Laney placed her feet on Cam's lap and wiggled to get comfy. John groaned "Stay still Lane"

She grinned at Cam. He tapped her foot with his fork "Behave"

"You two are no fun. I definitely shouldn't have left"

"No you shouldn't. And we're still plenty fun"

She took a sip of her coffee. "So Jack asked me to go back to the mountain"

"Is that so?"

"Uh huh"

"Doing what? Teaching black ops"

She wiggled again in revenge. "Lane!"

"Serves you right. And no, although maybe it's something I should suggest"

"Funny"

"He wants me to consider joining SG-22"

She felt John's grip tighten and Cam looked at her, biting his lip. "Uh, SG-22 huh?"

"Yep, I'm told they're a slightly unusual team, but highly skilled. Apparently I'd fit right in. Jack seems to think the CO and I would have a lot in common. Handy for those boring missions when there's nothing to do but talk for hours"

She tilted her head "What do you think?"

John cleared his throat "Well, I, um…Cam?"

She watched Cameron lick his lips "Um, I think that, well…" he looked at her and narrowed his eyes "She's playing us Shep"

"Is that so" John huffed in her ear.

She smiled "Actually Jack's offer is genuine. I was interested to see what you thought. However, you seem a little uncomfortable with it. A pity because I think Vala and I would get on like a house on fire"

"Oh yeah, I can already see the fucking flames"

She smiled and squirmed in Johns lap.

"For fuck's sake Laney!"

 

Laney was straddling John, watching his darkened gaze travel over her naked body. He reached out a finger and trailed it down the scar over her chest. Taking his hand she laced their fingers together and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. Then she spread her knees further apart, taking him deeper. He growled and pulled her down for a kiss.

As his tongue swept over hers, his hand buried itself in her hair and he rolled his hips. Little sparks of pleasure caused her muscles to flutter around him. They both moaned, breaking the kiss.

Laney turned her head to Cameron, he was lying by the side of them propped on one elbow. John's other hand was lazily stroking his erection.

"Cameron" She whispered "You too"

John groaned and let go of him.

Cam leant forward and pressed his lips to hers, then dropped his head and did the same to John. Then he moved behind her.

She placed her hands either side of John's head and rocked slowly, brushing her breasts across his face. He arched up and ran his tongue over one of her nipples, she let out a small sigh. Then he gripped her hips, stilling her. "Stop that sweetheart otherwise this isn't gonna last long"

Laney smiled down at him and he reached up and took her nipple into his mouth.

Then Cam slid one finger between her cheeks and she growled quietly.

By the time Cam pulled his three fingers out of her, Laney and John were barely hanging on to their control. And when Cam pushed his way in they both cried out his name.

Laney knew John could feel everything Cam was doing to her through the her thinly stretched walls. She loved taking them like this. They way they filled her, surrounded her, could reach every part of her. She needed this after their separation, and so did they.

John began to slowly thrust up, keeping a tight grip on her hips and staring up at her, checking for any sign of pain. She licked her lips and tightened her muscles, enjoying the sound of both their groans.

"Cameron"

The man behind her began to slowly move, finding a rhythm that fitted John's. One of them was always buried in her, the other taking his place when he pulled back.

John began to initiate a faster pace, his grip tightening. Laney could see the muscles of his abdomen twitch and tense. As Cameron's hands slid in place above John's, he matched the other mans quickening thrusts.

As their breathes became harsher and their fingers started to form bruises on her hips and stomach Laney closed her eyes and lost herself. Her skin began to heat, and even in their grasp, her hips began to rock. She breathed their names, felt the pleasure building. She was full but her body screamed for more. Harder, deeper, more, more of them, all of them.

Her orgasm slammed into her, every muscle in her body tightening then rippling. She gripped John's shoulders, pushing herself back on them chasing the feeling, not wanting to let it go.

And then John was still, arched off the bed and buried as deep inside of her as he could get, groaning out her name. When his body finally dropped back down and he slid out of her she whimpered at the loss.

But then Cam was moving again and,not having to worry about hurting her or John, his thrusts were strong and fast. She thrust back to meet him, trying to give him what he needed. She tightened her muscles again and he cursed, growling her name.

Then John was circling his thumb between her legs over her already thrumming skin, and she closed her eyes. Reaching out for her second orgasm she surrounded herself with their scent, with the thought of what they were taking, what they were giving. Laney growled and pushed down onto John's hand.  
He slid three of his fingers inside her, stroking across Cam, and pushed hard with his thumb.

Cameron Mitchell and Laney Jacobs came together calling his name.

 

Cam rolled over, reached out with his hand and groaned. "How the fuck does she do that without waking us up?"

John smiled at him from the other side of the bed, head still on his pillow, eyes half shut. 

"Because I have awesome black ops"

He looked up at her "No, you're just a sneaky bitch"

"That's merely a less polite way of saying it Cameron" 

He watched as she placed two of the mugs of coffee she was holding on his bedside and moved around the bed. Clad only in a pair of the boxer briefs she favoured when off-world, he wondered if 'my hot girlfriend came back two days ago after six months missing and insisted on wandering around in her underwear' was a valid excuse for not showing up to work today. He sighed, probably not when she was also the goddaughter of your boss.

Laney handed John his coffee, then climbed over him and settled back in-between them, covers pooling around her waist.

Cam frowned and tugged the bedding lower, hissing at the faintly yellowing bruises around her hips. "Shit, we hurt you"

"Not possible Colonel"

"There's never been marks before" He traced them with his fingers "You should have said"

"I was a little busy"

He glared at her.

"If it hurt you would have got an elbow to the face Cameron"

John leant over "You sure sweetheart?"

"I'm hitting the shower if you continue to fuss"

"Yeah, well you gonna have to put up with a lot more over the next few weeks Princess. For a start, you're not living off coffee and cigarettes any more, there's no patrolling until we trust you not to do a runner again and you're here every night, right where you are now"

"John?"

"Sorry Lane, but I'm with Cam on this. It's just until we feel better ok? You kind of put us through hell by taking off like that"

She nodded and looked at Cam "Coffee please"

He handed her the other mug "No complaining? No witty retorts?"

"Nope"

"Huh"

 

Laney pulled on her boots and ran a hand through her hair before scraping it up into a high pony. She sighed. Before leaving for work they'd demanded to know what she was doing today and, once satisfied with her plans, informed her they'd both be working on base and would be home at 1700. She was to be here when they got back on pain of death. She was to call them if her plans changed or if she needed anything.

She'd told them she was planning on hitting the shops, most of her clothes were suited to a warmer climate and she needed to stock up on jeans and jumpers. She hadn't mentioned she was also planning on dropping into Victoria Secrets, she figured she had a lot of making up to do. Waving away Cam's credit card earned her a surprised look.

"You haven't been earning for six months Princess"

"I managed very well before the SGC Cameron, and I'm doing just fine now"

"Care to elaborate?"

"No"

He'd glared at her and checked his watch. "You will later Laney. Behave yourself today" And then they were gone.

Laney bit her lip. She also hadn't told them where she was planning on going before her shopping trip. It wasn't just them she had to apologise to.

 

Dean opened the door, opening his mouth to ask Sarah why she was back from work so soon.

"You know, that's very unattractive, even on you Winchester"

He snapped his jaw shut.

"Are you going to ask me in or are we going to do this where all your neighbours can hear?"

He glared at her and stepped aside, slamming the door closed behind her.

"So, the wanderer returns. Again" He sneered.

"Six months and that's all you can come up with?"

"Fuck you Lane"

"I don't think Sarah would be very impressed"

"I should have shot you when I had the chance"

"You're beginning to sound like a marine"

"What the fuck do you want Laney? You're ruining my day off"

He watched her move around to the couch and sit down. "Please make yourself at home"

She glared at him. "I want to apologise. You weren't meant to get dragged into it. I just wanted to make it be over for you. So you wouldn't have to fight anymore, wouldn't have to be so angry and sad all the time"

"Yeah well, you underestimated your boys sweetheart. Your little road trip has had people you've never heard of running their arse's ragged"

She dropped her eyes "I know. I'm sorry" She ran her hands over her face "It was that fucking necklace, as soon as I touched it I couldn't think of anything else. I just wanted it all to stop, to find them all, make them pay. I could feel her Dean, all that evil, and rage and cruelness. It took months to get it out of my head, even after she was dead, and by then I'd been gone so long I was scared to come back"

"And yet here you are"

Laney bit her lip. Dean closed his eyes. He understood, probably better than the others did, how it could become an obsession, how it could haunt you until you couldn't see anything else. And then, when it was over, the fear of ever having to face the people you'd fucked over. And HE didn't have a psychotic demon whispering in his head. 

But she'd come back, he gave her props for that. Must have taken a lot of guts. He sat next to her.

"Sweetheart" she raised her head "I get it, I do. And I'M sorry for dragging your arse out to Bobby's. No one thinks any less of you for what you did. But you've changed in their eyes, you scared the crap outta them. They'd never seen what I had. A Slayer in full pissed off mode" He grinned at her. She smiled back.

"They're driving me nuts"

He snorted "Yeah, well you asked for it Lane. And they'll back off once they trust you again"

"Yeah, I know" She bit her lip again "Probably should have told them I was coming here then, huh?"

"For fuck's sake Laney"

 

Laney dropped her bags on the bed and frowned at them "I'll put you away later"

Then she shucked off her jacket, pulled off her boots and padded into the living room. Grabbing the phone she sighed. She'd been putting off this phone call long enough. She dialled with shaky hands.

"Colonel Mitchell?"

"Uh, no"

"Laney?"

"Hi Bobby"

Laney sat on the floor and listened to his tirade for ten minutes. When he took a breath she shouted down the phone at him.

"Bobby! Are you going to let me apologise or what?"

"I don't want your apology you fucking ijit! I want you to promise me you'll never pull something like that again. Damn crazy arse Slayer!"

"I promise. And I'm sorry"

"Good. Because I don't want anymore high ranking military officers threatening my physical wellbeing again any time soon"

"Shit, sorry Bobby"

"Stop fucking saying sorry girl"

"Right sor…shit"

He sighed at her down the phone. "Please tell me you're back with them for good?"

"Um yeah, I think so"

"THINK SO!"

"No! Um, I mean yes. Yes I am. Although they're getting a bollocking for threatening you when they get home"

"What exactly did you expect Slayer? You disappeared on two men who have fallen completely in love with you. You ripped their fucking hearts out. They were scared shitless Lane, and so were me and Dean"

Silence.

"Laney?"

"Love?" she choked out a sob.

"Shit, come on don't cry you stupid girl. You couldn't see it? You still can't? Think about what they've done for you sweetheart"

"I didn't….shit. I knew they cared and it was something….shit" Laney attempted to laugh through the sobs.

"Hey, come on. This isn't a bad thing. Just stick around this time huh?"

She took a deep breath. "Yeah, yeah I will"

"Good. You talk to Dean?"

She nodded, then rolled her eyes "Yep, this morning"

"And you're both still alive, have full mobility?"

"Funny"

"Yep"

"I think she's mellowed him"

Bobby snorted "Miracles do happen"

 

The shower door opened and John leaned against the frame. "Our bedroom looks like one of those crazy arse sales you women love hitting"

Laney raised an eyebrow "You women?"

He smirked at her and ran his fingers over her stomach. "As much as I'd love to join you in there we bought takeout so you're gonna have to shift your pretty arse before it gets cold"

She grabbed his hand and pulled him in, fully clothed.

 

Hearing John's yell and Laney's giggles, Mitchell smiled.

Grabbing three beers out the fridge he looked up to see a dripping John in the doorway. His shirt was stuck to him and his pants were forming puddles on the floor.

"As much as I'm loving that look on you Lt Colonel, you appear to be flooding my kitchen floor"

John glared at him "Damn girl. I'm staying here til she's dressed"

Cam grinned "We could have put the food in the oven"

The other man narrowed his eyes "Now you tell me"

"Now he tells you what?" Laney slipped past him and peered in the bags "Oooh Thai" She looked at John "You're right, this is worth cutting my shower short"

He flipped her off and stalked back into the bedroom.

Cam raised a brow at her. She shrugged "He could have called from the bedroom door, instead he chose to perv over me in the shower"

He pulled her to him and bowed his head "Don't blame him" he murmured against her lips.

He felt her arch up into him and slide her hands to the back of his neck, opening her mouth. She moaned as he stroked his tongue over hers.

"Thats not fair, all I got what was a soaking"

Cam broke the kiss and grinned at him.

"Don't think I didn't notice the sneaky grope of my arse you got in Sheppard" And she grabbed her beer, making her way into the living room.

"So we're waiting on you now too?!" Yelled John.

"Yep! If you do a good job I'll show you what I picked up in Victoria Secrets today!"

John rolled his eyes and looked at Cam "That's not gonna work right?"

Cam smirked "I'll grab the food, you get more beers"

As Cam dropped onto the sofa Laney dug in her jeans pocket. "I nearly forgot" she glared at John "This is for you, towards feeding me" She grinned and held out a folded cheque.

"Not needed Princess"

"Take it Cameron, or I'll kick your arse"

"I'm being beaten up for NOT taking money?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Fine" He grabbed the cheque and shoved it in his pocket.

Laney breathed a silent sigh of relief. Hopefully she'd be far away when he went to cash it.

"And I want your bank details so I can set up a regular payment. I'm not living here for free"

John eyed her "You don't have to do that"

"For fuck's sake, let me pay my way. And, look at it like this, next time I do a runner you'll be better off every month"

"Not fucking funny Jacobs"

 

Laney dropped the empty Thai containers in the bin and went to grab some more beers from the fridge.

"Jacobs! In here now!"

Shit.

Swiping a third beer, she sauntered into the living room wearing, what she hoped, was an innocent expression.

"Whats up?"

"This" Cam held the cheque up between two fingers "Is up"

"Is it not enough?"

"Don't play dumb with me girl. Fifteen thousand dollars?!"

"I have a quick metabolism. I also tend to use a lot of hot water, drink a lot of beer and occasionally bleed on the soft furnishings"

"I'm not in the mood Princess"

"I don't see what the problem is Cam"

"The problem is that you haven't worked for six months, yet you are able to travel Europe, fly home, buy $300 jeans and give me this. When you said you wouldn't tell me about where the money came from I figured we were talking a couple of thousand at most but this is big money Lane. Where did it come from?"

Fuck. 

"I don't ask you where your money comes from, or question what you do with it" She gestured at the cheque. "Cash it, burn it, tear it up, whatever. I didn't steal it, it's mine"

"He wasn't saying you stole it sweetheart, we were just surprised that's all. Look we've never spoken about stuff like this, and we need to if we're all going to live together. Did your family have money, or does Slaying pay really fucking well?"

Laney threw herself in the recliner and took a swallow of beer. "Slaying doesn't pay, I do it for the love" She grimaced "Our family didn't have money, or anything really, Ange and I raised ourselves until we were called, then we lived at the base in Cleveland. When Jack requested clearance for me at the mountain my name flagged up on a couple of agencies 'wanted for questioning' lists"

"Wanted for questioning? Really!"

"Don't interrupt Cameron. I'd been fighting the big bad for ten years. And, just like half the other girls, my presence was being noted at crime scenes etc. Anyway, it all got a bit, uh, complicated and I believe Jack may have questioned several people's parentage.."

John snorted.

"…and I kinda ended up at the White House, trying to convince the President and half his staff that Slayers did actually exist"

"Only you Lane"

She stuck her tongue out. "Anyway, after A LOT of talking, A LOT of looking at files and some fun exercises which mainly involved me beating up Secret Service guys I finally had them convinced. Then the president asked to speak to me alone and we were sat in his office, with him making me tea"

"Tea?"

"Shut up Cameron"

"Um he explained it a lot better than I can but basically he believed that Slayers were effectively a part of the military. We put our lives at risk for civilians and die in the line of duty. He said he was going to make it official but make sure we stayed anonymous. I was to be ranked as a Major and receive the pay that came with that rank. Apparently I'm not old enough to make Colonel"

"Hey!"

"My pay was back dated to when I was called, and then interest, combat pay etc etc was added on. It came to just over $2 million. As Angie's only surviving relative I was also entitled to what would have been her pension and insurance. Altogether I got just under $2.5 million. Then he asked me for the names of the other girls who died. He promised they would track down their families and make sure they received similar compensation to Angie's"

"Shit Lane, you've got $2.5 million in the bank?!"

"No. I have just over $1 million in the bank"

Cam groaned "You've spent one and a half million in a year?"

"No" She snapped "I've spent about $100,000 in a year. The rest I gave away"

"Gave away?"

"It made me feel uncomfortable. There are loads of people out there who do more than I do, and without super powers"

"Sweetheart you deserve it. They all did"

Laney nodded, trying to tighten her control on her emotions.

"Something else you need to tell us Princess?"

She nodded and got up, making her way to the bedroom. Coming back with a blood stained duffle she sat in between them on the couch and unzipped the bag. The smell of that day hit her nostrils and she swallowed. Reaching in the bag Laney pulled out a black leather presentation box and heard Cam hiss in a breath. She ran a finger over the words embossed on the top. Then she leant forward again and pulled out another.

"Jesus sweetheart"

Laney nodded "I'm a little embarrassed about these, especially in front of you guys"

Cam slid his hand round the back of her neck. "Why?"

"Because, I feel like they weren't earned"

John pressed a kiss into her hair "Can I?"

She nodded again and he took one of the boxes. Cam squeezed her neck and she clicked open the other still in her hands. The Purple Heart's sat side by side, held in her hands and the hands of the man next to her, glinting in the lamp light. John turned over the one he held.

"Angela Jacobs, Slayer"

Cameron picked up the other. "Laney Jacobs, Slayer"

"All of them got one. Their families have them"

John moved his foot and accidentally knocked the bag. It clinked.

Laney sighed and put the boxes on the table. They might as well see these too. Going onto her knees she dug her hand into the bag and pulled out a handful of silver rings, pouring them onto the coffee table. Then she went back in for more. The two men came and knelt beside her. Cam caught her left hand and traced the silver band on her finger.

"Like yours?"

"Yeah"

He picked one up and turned it round in his fingers. Then the engraving caught his eye "Faith Lehane, Cleveland"

John reached for another "Michelle Duponte, Paris"

"They're like your dogtags. We used to wear silver crosses round our necks but they got in the way when we fought and, um, then there was my little accident"

"Your little accident?"

"Two years into my training Faith and I were patrolling, ran into a nest of vampires. One of them got hold of my chain" She tilted her head to Cam "You were surprised by my voice when I first met you?"

"Yeah" He closed his eyes "You were strangled"

"Yep. Sucked at the time but now I rock at phone sex"

"Laney!"

"What? Every cloud and all that" She reached to scrape the rings back into the bag and John caught her wrist.

"Get them all out Lane. I want to know their names"

Laney bit her lip then upended the bag. 134 silver rings rolled and clattered onto their coffee table.

 

Six months later.

Laney tensed as she picked up Vala's scent and waited. Hearing the woman's running footsteps she moved to the edge of the shadows. As Vala appeared in her line of sight Laney reached out, grabbing her and yanking her into the doorway. She slapped a hand over her mouth. Vala glared at her, Laney rolled her eyes.

When the last of the guards had gone past Laney removed her hand.

"Explain to me again why I'm hiding in a grubby doorway on some shit hole planet instead of kicking their arse's?"

"Because the last time we went with your plan we all spent an hour in Jack's office being yelled at by him, John, Cameron and Daniel"

"And that bothers you?"

"I didn't get sex for a week"

Laney snorted. "Maybe you should find a man who gets off on shouting at you?"

"Maybe they should stop taking you home and fucking you everytime you screw up?

"I vote you tell them that when we get back"

Vala grinned at her.

"So what now my great and sex starved leader?"

Vala rolled her eyes and clicked her radio "Cadman?"

"Yeah"

"Location?"

"We're half a click from the gate, using trees for cover. Four guards at the DHD"

"Piece of piss" Laney informed Vala.

Vala glared at her. "Hold position. We'll be there in ten"

Laney snorted.

"Laney will be there in five, I'll be there in ten"

Laura snorted down the radio and it clicked off.

Laney circled the clearing where the gate was. She picked up her teammates scent from the wooded area across from her position, then turned to eye the guards. There were still only four of them, armed with stunners and, she groaned, big fuck off swords. Laney absently traced her scar through her uniform. 'They're only human' she reminded herself and stepped out in front of them.

As the men realised that their stunners were having no effect on the pretty little brunette advancing on them they threw them to one side and raised their swords.

Thirty seconds later Laura and Sarah stepped up behind her.

"You know that gets a little less impressive every time I see it"

"Fuck you Cadman"

"You're grumpy after beating people up, you know that?"

Laney flipped her off, the redhead smirked at her.

Vala came running up behind them. "We have about twenty seconds to get our hot little arse's off this planet"

Dialling the gate and jogging through after her team Laney walked down the ramp and collapsed.

 

John sighed and nodded at Teal'c to dial home. Another boring as fuck planet, maybe he should start teaming up with SG-22, they seemed to be seeing more action than all the other teams put together at the moment.

He smirked to himself, probably because every member of their team was hot, and mouthy. They seemed to spend most of their time beating up and/or evading amorous alien natives.

He rolled his tired shoulders and decided that Cam definitely owed him a massage. Preferably while he was balls deep in Laney.

"Sheppard!"

John snapped his eyes open. Dean was smirking at him "You know if you actually walk through the gate you might be in with a chance of getting whatever depraved act you're thinking of"

"You know once upon a time Captains called their superiors Sir, and found it inappropriate to make comments about their private lives"

"Yeah, they also left their Colonels to die because they were giant pussies"

John rolled his eyes. "It was one time.."

"Bullshit. You coming home or not…Sir?"

John stalked past him "Fuck you Winchester"

"Bite me Sir!"

Walking down the ramp John saw O'Neill waiting in the gate room, expression serious. He hurried over.

"Sir, did SG-22...?"

"Relax son, they made it back. No injuries etc etc…."

"Cam?"

"No John. Laney collapsed just after she walked back through the gate but…"

Sheppard shoved his weapons at Dean, dropped his vest and ran out the room. Jack sighed and turned to Dean. "You know if anyone actually let me finish we'd have a lot less personnel charging around the place like headless chickens"

Dean snorted "Is she ok Sir?"

"She'll be fine" Jack frowned "I think"


	6. Chapter Six

Laney heard his running footsteps and sighed. She looked at Carson "John's on his way, he didn't listen to Jack"

Dr Beckett looked up from his files and grinned "They must hate that you can do that lass"

"Uh huh"

John skidded into the infirmary and jogged his way over to her "Sweetheart are you ok? What happened?"

She pointed at him "You didn't listen to Jack"

"Uh, what?"

"Jack was supposed to tell you I was ok and that you could grab a shower and get changed first. AND, this is the most important part Lt Colonel, bring me food"

He glared at her "Well maybe JACK shouldn't have started the sentence with 'Laney collapsed in the gate room'"

She rolled her eyes "As you can see I'm not about to expire right here so you can grab that shower now…and food"

"Don't be a smart arse"

"Don't be a dick"

"That's enough, it's like dating a couple of fifteen year olds"

"That's just wrong Mitchell"

"Yeah, and we're only dating? I'm hurt"

Laney watched Cameron cross the infirmary to her bed, he sipped his coffee.

"See, Cameron listened to Jack" 

John rolled his eyes.

"Actually Jack locked me in my office and had Teal'c restrain me until he could explain"

Dr Beckett grinned.

"No laughing" Colonel Mitchell pointed at him "So Doc, what's she done now?"

"Hey!" Laney looked at the Doctor "I haven't done anything right?"

"Nothing that is any of my business lass"

"Hey!"

Carson cleared his throat "Sorry Colonel" He looked down at his file "It appears that Miss Jacobs has low blood pressure, very low. This means she will be prone to dizzy spells, fainting, even some loss of vision for short periods of time….."

"So, dose me up and I'll be on my way"

"Laney" John scowled down at her. "What's causing it?"

"Ah, smart lad. To be honest I was a little stumped at first, with all the usual blood tests coming back clear, but then Miss Jacobs happened to mention she'd been feeling a little run down lately"

"And we're hearing this now Princess?"

"You're not my bloody carers Cameron. I've just been busy lately"

"You have Slayer stamina, and a scarily impressive immune system. This should have worried you sweetheart"

She rolled her eyes. Carson cleared his throat.

"So I ran another test on a hunch"

John gripped her hand "And?"

Laney looked up at Beckett and he smiled down at her "Congratulations Miss Jacobs, you're ten weeks pregnant"

She heard Cam in the background as he choked on his coffee and tore her hand from John's. Grabbing the files she muttered "No, no, that can't be right. Shit"

She looked at Carson "Run the test again. It's not possible, what about my implant?"

Dr Beckett looked at her curiously "I ran it three times lass, just to be sure. I know about the implants, they're usually incredibly effective"

"Shit, this is not good, not good at all"

 

"Um Doc?"

"I'll be in my office Colonel Mitchell. I'll need to see her before she leaves"

Cam nodded and sat on the bed facing her.

"Princess?"

"What?"

"Look, I know it's not something we've talked about, you're still young and you're doing a job you love, but it's something John and I always planned on asking you one day"

"Why?"

Cam looked at John, who shrugged.

"Um, well, because we both want children and we don't want them with anyone else"

She looked at him "I can't give you children Cameron"

"I'm pretty sure we've just had proof you can baby"

She rolled her eyes at him. "What if it's a girl?"

"Uh, she'll be just like her Mom and I'll spend my twilight years beating up horny teenage boys"

John snorted.

Laney sighed. "Very funny. But I think she'll be able to beat up the boys just fine herself. Hmm?"

"What?"

"Engage your brains guys. God, it's like working with children"

Cameron looked at her, then up at John when he cursed. "What?"

"She'll be a Slayer Cam"

"Ah"

 

When it became clear the raised voices in his infirmary weren't going to be quietening down anytime soon he stalked out and towards his patient's bed.

"COLONELS!" All three people in the room turned to look at him. Dropping his voice he said "I will not have one of my patients shouted at like that. Especially one who is ten weeks pregnant" He pointed at the two men "Remember who patches you back up and does your medicals"

He looked at the young woman sat on the bed "And you young lady, this is not rest. This is not relaxation. You want me to keep you here until your blood pressure levels out? You want to pass out again?" She shook her head.

"I thought not. Now, IF you can promise to all be civil to one another, I will give Miss Jacobs her notes and she may leave" He pointed at her "You will rest, bed, couch, wherever. You will eat, properly, there is no need for you to increase your calorie intake but as a Slayer, and a pregnant one at that, a slight drop in blood sugar and you'll be all over the place. Understand?"

She nodded.

"Whatever you need to discuss will be done so calmly and quietly" He glared at the two Colonels, who nodded open-mouthed at him. "Good, now if you'll excuse me, I'll go get your paperwork lassie"

Carson stepped back into his office. Sometimes he missed the life sucking aliens.

 

"Well fuck me"

"John!"

"Maybe we could ask him to get her to pick up her clothes too?"

"Hey!"

 

After Dr Beckett had given her her notes and a bunch of information to look through Laney had suffered a silent drive home. She'd said stuff she didn't actually mean during their row and she felt bad. She'd hurt them again.

She sighed and turned over in bed. They couldn't understand why she wasn't happy, why she'd even consider not going through with this. After their initial shock they both seemed really into the idea. Laney chewed on her lip and thought about what this would truly mean. They'd make her stop going through the gate AND patrolling. She'd drive them nuts after the first week. She smiled a little at the thought.

If it was a girl she'd have to be prepared, trained. Laney imagined having to tell her child about monsters and dead girls and destiny. She felt sick.

But it could be a boy, she mused. A boy who'd want to fly planes or explore new worlds, who'd probably end up getting shot at by angry alien natives. She grinned.

Laney turned inwards, like she did when she called upon the Slayer, but this time there was no call for blood or the whispering of ancient battle cries. Laney cradled her still flat stomach and listened to two heartbeats. One slow, one fast.

After a few minutes she sat up and flicked on the lamp. She was alone in bed, they'd sent her to rest and she figured they were still too pissed to join her. Leaning off the edge of the bed to grab the stuff Carson had given her she felt a little dizzy.

'Shit, not a good idea Laney'

She raised herself up too fast and the room spun.

By the time they got into the room she was already back on her feet and sliding into bed.

"You ok Lane?" John frowned at her.

"Fine. Although I must remember to curb my usual athleticism when getting out of bed"

"What were you after Princess?"

"Got it" she waved some papers at them "Can't sleep, thought I'd do some reading"

Cam sat on the edge of the bed and looked over at what she was holding "Considering changing your mind?"

"I never said I'd made up my mind"

John folded his arms "You made your thoughts quite clear"

"John!"

"Well, I'm sorry Cam but shouldn't we get a say too?"

"You're being over dramatic John"

"OVER DRAMATIC!"

Laney pointed at him "I'll tell Carson!. And yes, you both made presumptions based on things that weren't even said, during a row, which happened right after we got some shocking news"

She sighed and looked at them. "I always promised myself I'd never have children, I didn't want to have to sit my daughter down and tell her all the shit that goes on in the world, and then tell her that she was going to be right in the middle of it. All because some creepy guy two thousand years ago decided he wanted his own personal bodyguard. But now it's happened, and I'm allowed to freak out and take some time to adjust before I hit the happy, excited stage"

"Do you even HAVE a happy, excited stage?"

She flipped John the finger. "You know full well I do, Lt Colonel"

He smirked at her and moved to lay out on his side across her legs, propped up on his elbow. Reaching out he traced her stomach through her top. "Are you sure sweetheart? This means giving up a hell of a lot of the things you do"

"Like what?"

"You're kidding me right? If you think you're still taking your arse off through the gate and out patrolling carrying…." He glared at her "Very funny"

"Just thought I'd test the waters" She smiled at him "You know I'm gonna be bored out of mind by the end of the first week right?"

Cam rubbed his face with his hands "Yeah, we know Princess"

"I'm gonna drive you nuts"

"We've had some practice"

She stuck her tongue out.

"I thought maybe some light sparring with Teal'c still"

"No"

"Marines?"

"No"

"I'm gonna get fat"

"Probably"

 

Laney stepped under the shower in the women's locker room and groaned a little. 

It turned out she'd gotten her own way about the light sparring in the end. When Carson had found out she was doing pretty much zero exercise compared to her usual activities he'd frowned at her.

"You need to just do a lighter version of what you were doing before lass, otherwise your body won't know what's happening. You're extremely fit, and that means this pregnancy should go well for you, but if you suddenly stop exercising it could cause problems with your muscles, tendons etc"

"I suggested light sparring with Teal'c but the guys no no'd it"

He'd nodded "That sounds ok, but maybe someone who is a little less, um, competent?"

She'd smirked at him "That is what Mitchell calls 'very diplomatic' of you Doc. I'd prefer Teal'c, he's skilled enough to give me a decent workout without accidentally hurting me. He'll also be able to tell how far to push"

"Ok, just don't underestimate the strain pregnancy puts on you Miss Jacobs. You feel good now but exhaustion and sore muscles will set in if you go to far, and I don't want raging Colonels in my infirmary again"

She'd snorted "I don't think they'd dare Carson"

Rolling her neck she groaned again. She was 15 weeks and, for the most part, still feeling really good. Maybe it was time to cut her sessions down with Teal'c to twice a week. It was tempting to keep pushing but she'd never forgive herself if something went wrong. Laney gently stroked her stomach.

"You're still, as you T'auri say, 'flat as a pancake'" Vala grinned at her from two showers away.

Laney rolled her eyes "That's boobs"

"What?"

"Boobs. That saying refers to people's breast size"

Vala raised an elegant brow "Oh. Well then, you are defiantly not 'flat as a pancake'. However your stomach is still disgustingly toned"

Laney looked down at herself and sighed. "Yeah I know. I think my boobs are the only part of my body that's got the memo about being pregnant. If they keep going I'm going to look ridiculous in a couple of months"

Vala smirked at her. "Don't worry. By then your stomach will have caught up"

"Great, then I'll just be a ball"

Vala snorted. "Yep, enjoy them while you can" She gestured to Laney's chest.

"Hey! And I am, at least the guys are. I'm expecting to get a coupon for implants on christmas this year"

The other woman frowned "Implants. Is it not too late for that?"

"Hey again! And not that kind of implant. Lots of women on Earth have what looks like bags of water put in them to give them bigger boobs"

Vala looked horrified "Why?!"

"Lots of reasons, some medical, but most are to look better"

Vala shook her head "You're all insane"

Laney grinned and turned off her shower.

"Are you still coming over tonight, Laura and Sarah want to teach me 'Mo-no-poly'"

Lane widened her eyes "I'm not sure I'm up to that. But I'll be there, if only for the entertainment, and the food" She paused "There's food right?"

Vala snorted "Yeah"

 

Dean lifted his head from Sarah's chest and smiled at her lazily "You still going to Vala's tonight sweetheart?"

She ran her fingers through his hair and he growled quietly "Yeah"

He pushed himself up and hovered over her, grinning down "Does that mean you're going to come home drunk and demand that incredibly dirty and perverted sex acts be performed on you?"

She rolled her eyes "Was this afternoon not enough for you?"

Dean dropped his mouth to her ear "Can't get enough"

 

Laney knocked on Cameron's office door. "Come in"

She opened the door to find John sitting opposite Cam at the desk and a young Lieutenant stood to attention at the side.

"You're late Jacobs"

She looked at her watch "By twenty minutes Colonel. I got chatting to Vala in the shower"

The young man's eyes twitched. Cam glared at her.

"I had to explain breast implants to her"

"Don't even think about it Edwards"

"No Sir"

Laney smirked.

"Dismissed"

"Yes Sir" He walked past her "Miss Jacobs"

"Lieutenant Edwards"

As the door snapped shut behind him John looked at her. "What are we going to do with you Jacobs?"

She dropped into his lap "Anything you like Lt Colonel Sheppard"

"Um" He flicked his tongue behind her ear and she squirmed into his lap. John growled and nipped at her jaw.

"Guys, as much as I'd enjoy the show so would half the base" Cam gestured to the security camera "And, in case you hadn't noticed, I'm a little possessive"

John snorted and slid his arms around her, running his tongue along her throat in small swirls.

Laney sighed and buried deeper in his lap.

"That's enough. We're taking this home before the security team's heads explode"

 

Laney went to knock on Vala's door and frowned when she noticed it ajar. She placed her hand against it and pushed it open. There was a faint light coming from where she knew the kitchen was. The rest of the house was in darkness. For the first time in weeks the Slayer began to grumble in it's cage.

Stepping inside she tried not vomit. The stink wound it's way up her nostrils and slid down the back of her throat.

"Please, no" She whispered. Fumbling for the light switch her hand slipped against the wall and she gave a small sob.

As the room lit up Laney took a step back. 

Laura was bent backwards over the glass coffee table, her legs broken beneath her. Shards of glass poked through her skin, one had penetrated her throat, nearly severing her head. Her hair dripped red.

Sarah was slumped over the back of the couch, her head twisted so she stared a lifeless gaze at Laney, blood trickled from her mouth, nose and eyes.

"Vala?" She swallowed and tried again "VALA?!"

"There's no need to shout darling" Vala smiled at her from the kitchen door, eyes black and unflinching "Do you like my little gift for you?"

Laney screamed.

 

Cam slammed upright in bed and looked to his right. She wasn't there. John was already standing reaching for his gun. He jumped out of bed.

"I'll take kitchen, you living room"

John nodded and ran from the room. Cam skidded into the kitchen.

"Fuck"

Drawers had been yanked open. Their contents thrown on the floor and over the counters. There were smears of blood on the handles.

"CAM!"

He raced to the living room and was stopped by John's grasp.

The front door was wide open, swinging gently in the night breeze, there was a bloodied handprint on the light switch. He hissed in a breath. Laney was sat on the floor by the door, knees pulled up to her chest, head bowed. Her hands were bloody and shaking.

He walked towards her slowly "Laney, baby, it's ok. You're home, we're here. Can you hear me Princess?"

She raised her head. Red trails ran down her neck and across her chest. John passed him and went to his knees next to her. "Laney? Sweetheart what happened? You have to tell us Lane. Can you hear me?"

He breathed a sigh of relief when she nodded and moved in front of her, dropping down into a crouch. "Baby, what happened? Do you need to go to hospital?"

She shook her head. "They're dead" she whispered.

Cam tried to swallow down the panic "Who Laney?"

She looked up at him, tears starting to run down her cheeks "Sarah and Laura. It's my fault. They're making me pay"

"Fuck Cam" John whispered.

Cam shook his head at him. "I'm just gonna call them baby, ok? Make sure it wasn't a nightmare"

John widened his eyes at him. There was too much blood.

Laney gripped his arm and he winced "Don't call Vala, they got to her"

He nodded. "Ok, you just need to let go of my arm for a minute ok? We're here, we're gonna sort this out alright?"

She just stared at him.

He stood on shaky legs and went over to the phone. Trying to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach he dialled.

"It's 2am Mitchell, this'd better be 'aliens are taking over the world' important"

"Shut up Dean. Sarah there?"

"Fuck off, you rang me. Why?"

"Just answer the damn question"

"Yes, and you're interrupting. What the fuck is going on?"

Cam looked at Laney. "Um I'll explain later. Gotta go" He cut Dean off mid-rant.

Feeling a little calmer he dialled again.

"Hello" Laura slurred down the phone at him.

"Laura, it's Mitchell"

"Mitchell? What the fuck?"

"Sorry. Just checking you're ok"

"Uh, why?"

He shifted. "Lane had a nightmare, just trying to ease her fears"

"She's not twelve Mitchell"

"Fuck off Cadman"

"What's going on? Let me talk to her!"

"Not right now Laura. Look I'll call back in the morning ok?"

"Mitchell!"

"No, I'm sorry. Er, was everything ok at Vala's tonight?"

"Yeah, fine"

"Lane ok?"

"Um, yeah. A bit quiet but we figured she was tired. Guessed we were right when she left early"

Cam felt sick again "How early?"

"About 2200"

"Fuck"

"Cam, you need me there?"

"No. Thanks Laura. I'll call you later ok?"

"Ok. Just call if you need anything"

He nodded dumbly at the phone and hung up.

 

Laney stretched and sighed as the smell of coffee drifted into the bedroom. She smiled and stroked a hand over her stomach.

"Princess?"

She opened her eyes and looked up at Cam. "Hey, you made coffee?"

He placed a mug on the bedside. "Hmm, thank you"

He sat down on the edge of the bed and eyed her. "I haven't suddenly grown two heads in the night have I Colonel?"

"You feeling ok Lane?"

She frowned "Yes, why?"

"John!"

"Cam, what's going on? You're scaring me"

"I'll explain everything in a minute ok. We just need you to tell us what you remember from last night first"

She watched John come in, he walked round the bed and moved to sit beside her. "What the fuck guys. Tell me what's going on?"

"Hey sweetheart, we will. We just don't want to influence what you remember before you tell us thats all" He lay a hand on her stomach "Please try and stay calm"

"STAY CALM"

"Lane! Please" Cam scrubbed his hands over his face. She studied him, he didn't look like he'd slept last night. She bit her lip. "Did I have a nightmare?"

"We don't know Princess. Just tell us what you remember from when you left to go to Vala's"

She frowned "Fine. I left here about seven, drove over to Val's. I spent three hours there watching her grasp Monopoly with terrifying ease. About ten I started feeling really tired so I left. Came home, went to bed. Got woken up by my crazy arse boyfriends asking me stupid questions"

"Laney" John sighed "Are you sure that's it?"

"YES! Why?"

"We didn't see you til 0200"

"Shit. Where was I?"

"We don't know sweetheart. You scared the crap out of us. Your screaming woke us up, we found you in the living room, front door wide open" He ran his thumb over her stomach "Covered in blood"

Laney felt sick "My baby"

"Hey, no the baby's fine. Carson came out, checked you over"

"He did?"

"Yeah, the blood was from a cut on your arm. We think you did it while you were tearing the kitchen apart. Don't know what you were looking for"

"Shit. Did I say anything?"

Cam moved next to her "You said that Sarah and Laura were dead. And that they'd got to Vala"

The images slammed into her, her friends bodies, the smell, Vala's eyes. She jumped out from between them and ran to the bathroom. Slamming the door shut she threw up.

They were banging on the door "LANE! LANEY!"

Her senses were assaulted again. The smell of antiseptic, shadows round her bed. Then cold rushing through her veins, and the Slayer raising up, the snap of bones, the cries of her victims.

She threw up again.

"Laney I'm breaking down this damn door if you don't open up!"

She raised herself up on shaky legs as the door flew open.

"Jesus, can't a girl throw up in peace" She gave a shaky laugh and reached for her toothbrush.

"Not fucking funny Lane. What the hell?"

She held out her other hand while she rinsed her mouth, trying to get rid of the taste.

As Laney turned to them Cam held out a hand "Come on Princess. Bed, then you're telling us what the hell that was about"

Settling back down she smiled her thanks to John as he passed her coffee over. Running a still shaking hand through her hair she sighed. 

"I think I was taken"

"Taken?"

She nodded "I'm gonna need a tox screen, I remember feeling liquid being pumped through my veins"

"Shit, you know who took you?" Cam's jaw was clenched.

Laney shook her head "No. But I don't think it matters" She looked at him "The Slayer didn't take kindly to her child's life being threatened"

"Fuck"

 

Jack looked at the two men.

"Are you telling me that someone managed to take out a Slayer, get her to a secure location and pump her full of drugs BEFORE she kicked their goddamn arse's? AND we have no clue who they were, what they wanted? AND somewhere out there is a room full of dead bodies?"

John shifted "It appears so Sir"

"Great, just fucking great. We don't even know if they wanted her because she's a Slayer, or because she works on a top secret military project, OR because she's with you two"

"Um, Sir?"

"You're both high ranking military officers, gentlemen. You've made enemies as well as friends, you have connections. Sheppard here comes from a very rich and powerful family. Maybe someone wanted you to suffer, or they wanted something from you hmm?"

Cam scraped his hands through his hair "Crap, I didn't even think about that. I always automatically presume it's Slayer shit"

"Well, thats why I'm General and you're not Mitchell"

John snorted.

Jack glared at him. "And if it's anything to do with the SGC that means they may have other targets. The ones that took Laney were obviously unprepared for a Slayer in full pissed off mode, but there may be other teams of them out there"

"Fuck"

"Precisely Sheppard"

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose "We need to put out a warning. Our personnel need to stay sharp, stick together. Those who are most vulnerable or hold important positions at the mountain are to remain here until this shit is dealt with. I want a full written report from Lane, maybe once it's on paper something will jump out at us. How is she?"

Cam sighed "Pissed. And I think a little frightened. Like you said Sir, they managed to take her down no problem" He clenched his fists "If they hadn't started pumping her full of drugs she may have not come to in time" He closed his eyes "I think the fact that she was forced to kill other humans is gonna haunt her a while too"

Jack nodded. "And physically?"

"There was still a trace of a powerful sedative in her blood, we reckon that's what caused the hallucinations. Carson did a scan and a full examination. He doesn't think there's been any lasting damage. I don't know what the hell it would do to someone whose not a Slayer"

 

Lieutenant Laura Cadman strained against the straps holding her down but it was no good.

'What I wouldn't give for Slayer strength right about now' she thought as the man advanced on her, drawing a clear liquid into the syringe he was holding.

 

Laney stood in the corridor at the SGC frowning at the door. She chewed her lip. This suggestion was probably not going to go down well but it had been two days since Laura had vanished and they weren't any closer to finding her. Laney had followed her orders and remained at the mountain while Cam and John had headed up search parties but she'd sat on her hands long enough. She was a Slayer and this is what she did best.

"Are you going to continue to lurk outside my door or get your arse in here Jacobs?"

She rolled her eyes. She swore Jack had been a Slayer in a past life. Opening the door she stepped inside and took a seat. He raised his brows at her questioningly.

May as well get it over with. "I want to track Laura"

"Absolutely not"

"Jack. I'm good at this, you know it. I've been a good little Slayer and let your people do their thing but the longer she's gone…" she trailed off.

He sighed. "I know hon, but these guys, whoever the fuck they are, had no problem in snatching you off the street. There's no guaranteeing they won't do it again"

"I'll be ready this time, and I'll have a team watching my back. I was tired before, not expecting it. Please Jack, let me find my friend"

"It's not just you anymore Lane, you've got a little one in there that should be coming first"

"And you think me worrying, stressing out is doing either of us any good? You know, some cultures still send their women into battle right up until the birth"

"They're insane. And obviously haven't ever met Sheppard and Mitchell. They'll go fucking nuts"

She rolled her eyes. "They're out there, at risk. And not just looking for Laura. John still goes through the gate, Cam still pulls crazy arse flight manoeuvres. No one seems to think about what it would be like for me if one or both of them got hurt or didn't make it back"

"I think we're straying into 'you should talk to them about this' territory here hon. Right now, this situation, it's best if you're here. I won't go against them on this one. You're not going anywhere"

She glared at him. "This base can't hold me Jack. I'll tear it apart getting out of here, pregnant or not"

"Excuse me!"

"You heard me. My friend is missing, maybe even dead, or dying. I won't be held here, not when I can find her. I'll give you an hour to think it through, decide if you're gonna let me walk out of here or if I'm gonna have to fight my way out"

"Laney!"

She slammed the door behind her and took a deep breath. 'Maybe just a slight overreaction there Lane. Stupid hormones'

 

Jack sighed and picked up his phone.

"Yeah"

"Mitchell"

"Sir"

"I'm sending Laney out with the next search party"

"WHAT?!"

"This is what she does best Mitchell" Jack rolled his eyes at himself "They'll be leaving in an hour. You and Sheppard get your arse's back here if you want to accompany her"

"Jack…"

"It's happening Cam. Unless you want to get back to find the mountain raised to the ground"

"Uh, Sir?"

"Don't ask. Just get a shift on"

Outside his door Laney smiled to herself. She was going to have to buy Jack a really expensive bottle of whisky for Christmas this year.

 

John stood a couple of meters back, watching her. They'd brought her to the last place they knew Laura had definitely been, before her tracer had been removed and chucked over the side of the mountain. Lane stood on the path, eyes closed, head slightly lifted. The breeze caught stray strands of her hair. She licked her lips.

She'd been like this for nearly twenty minutes now and the other men were getting restless.

"Stay still" he hissed at the nearest marine. The man froze.

Then Laney opened her eyes and blinked, turning to her right she set off up the mountain. After half an hour she stopped and frowned.

"Everything ok Lane?" Up until now her progress had been smooth and sure.

She tilted her head. "Her scent goes three ways"

John swallowed "Three?"

She nodded and closed her eyes.

He shot a look at Cam. The other man pulled his sunglasses down his nose and raised his eyebrows. John nodded. Either it had been too long for Laney to pick up the trail as easily as she would have two days ago, or…He swallowed again and didn't let himself think about it.

Then they were moving again, continuing up, slowly heading east.

Two hours later she stopped in front of a solid wall of rock, her brow furrowed. "I was sure…" she murmured. The men stayed quiet, waiting. She took a step back, scanning the rock face.

Then Laney reached out and grabbed a hand hold, pulling herself up. John stepped forward "Uh Lane, maybe not a good idea"

She ignored him and reached for another.

"Laney!" Called Cam.

"Be quiet!" she hissed back. Then she was climbing.

She climbed like a freaking cat. The men with them moved closer to the rocks, readying themselves in case she fell. John tried to find a way to follow her but there was no way he could get his hands and feet in the holds she was using.

Then she disappeared.

"Shit! Laney?!" Cam was trying to keep his voice low.

Coils of rope slithered down and she came into view.

"Christ" whispered John "No wonder we couldn't find her"

 

Laura heard the gunfire and tried to pry open her eyes. She sobbed when she couldn't. She had no idea how long she'd been here, what had been done to her.

There were memories, flashes. At one point a wraith had placed a hand on her chest, his foul breath ghosting over her face. She'd screamed in pain, believing she was dying. But she'd woken again to the shadows around her.

Then a pair of arms were sliding under her, lifting her gently. She tried to struggle.

"Easy Laura" His voice was warm, familiar "It's Major Lorne, I've got you, you're safe"


	7. Chapter Seven

Laney Jacobs lay back on the pillows and watched her lovers. Cameron was slowly thrusting in and out of John, the other man's eyes were closed and small moans of pleasure were falling from his lips.

She slid her hand down between her legs and began to caress herself gently. She hadn't been sure how she would feel about seeing them together the first time it had happened but her mind had been blown. There had been no feelings of jealousy or of being left out. They'd wanted to show her how they looked together, the depth of their feeling for each other. 

"Princess?"

She met Cam's gaze, his startling blue eyes now black with desire.

"You with us or should I be worried you're fantasising about someone else?"

She smiled and slid her hand back out. Leaning forward she ran a finger down John's cheek. "I was thinking about the first time I watched you" She brushed her lips over John's "You're both so beautiful like this"

John slid his hand to the back of her neck and pulled her into a kiss. He broke it with a moan as Cam leant forward.

"Thank you" whispered Cam, and pressed his lips to hers. Dropping a kiss on John's mouth he pushed back up and rested his hands on the mans knees.

Laney rolled back to her side and propped her head up on her hand.

Then Cam was moving again, a faster pace this time, burying himself in John and then pulling back until he was nearly all the way out. John's eyes fluttered shut and he breathed the other man's name.

Cameron shifted and John cried out. Then his body was arching off the bed with every thrust and his hips were starting roll, desperately looking for friction. When Laney was sure that John was close to losing his control she leant forward and wrapped her hand around him. Not moving she allowed him to thrust up into her grip. Cursing, his hands gripped the sheets and his muscles tensed.

White stripes decorated his own stomach and chest.

As John dropped his body down with a sigh she released him and moved closer. Dipping her head she murmured in his ear and traced patterns in the warm liquid.

Cam had pushed John's knees back even further and his thrusts were strong and fast now. He met her gaze. Not breaking eye contact Laney leant forward and slowly licked a long stripe of come off John's chest.

"Fuck" Cam closed his eyes. His hips stuttered and he managed one last thrust, slamming himself as deep as he could get into John.

 

Colonel Mitchell felt the bed shift next to him. "And where do you thing you're going Princess?"

"I've already gone"

He opened his eyes and frowned up at her. She smiled down at him "I've gone and come back again"

"It's too early for this shit"

She rolled her eyes and gestured to his side with her head. Turning over he saw two steaming mugs on his bedside. Pulling himself up into a sitting position he slid an arm around her waist, pulling her into his side. Grabbing a mug and handing it to her he reached for his own coffee.

"You should let us do this for you sometimes Lane"

"You both sleep like the dead, and I'm not good at waiting"

"Yeah, I'd noticed"

John turned over and groaned.

"I think you broke Sheppard"

Cam huffed a laugh and dropped a kiss into her hair. John opened his eyes and glared up at them. "Where's mine?"

"You got yours last night"

"Very funny. Coffee?"

"Where it always is Colonel"

Cam watched him pull himself up and reach for his mug. He moaned. Cam frowned.

"Did I really break you?"

Laney giggled and got a pinch to her side. "Hey!"

John flipped them off. "Not broken. But I'm not looking forward to sitting in fucking meetings all day"

Cam grinned at him. "I look forward to seeing you squirm Shep"

The other man glared at him. Then dropped his gaze to Laney. "You're gonna have to come to the mountain with us again today sweetheart. We still haven't figured out who these fuckers are"

She nodded. "I have a sparring session with Teal'c anyway and then I want to go see Laura. Relieve Major Lorne of his round the clock vigil"

"You noticed too huh?"

"I have eyes, so yes"

Cam sighed. "You think they were involved back on Atlantis?"

"Nope. Laura said there was a lot of tension and she eventually had to stop sparring with him because it was getting too hard not to just tear his clothes off" John snorted "But apparently they were all a little busy trying not to get eaten by space vampires"

"Space vampires?"

"Wraith. Suck the life out of you, hard to kill, have a disturbing penchant for leather. They needed a Slayer, or five" She sighed against him "Anyway, when they got back to Earth Lorne was shipped straight out to a Naquadah mining facility and she was recruited onto Val's team. Apparently he told her that he'd only been back two weeks when he was rota'd into the search parties for her"

"Shit"

"Yep"

John reached a hand out and ran his fingers over her stomach. "Do you think you should spar today Lane? After your little hike a coupla days ago wouldn't it be better to rest?"

"I know my limits Sheppard"

"Bullshit"

 

Major Evan Lorne sat back in his office chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. It had been two hours since Laura's teammate had strolled into the infirmary and told him to 'fuck off, take a shower, get some food'.

He'd heard whispers of the word Slayer and what it meant but he'd had his doubts. Then he'd watched her track Laura's scent, and climb that fucking rock face, and he'd started to believe. Then he'd gotten pissed that it had taken so long for her to join the search parties, it had been two days and she'd found her within a few hours. Then this morning Laura had told him that Laney was pregnant and practically married to Colonel Mitchell and Lt Colonel Sheppard.

Evan snorted to himself. He'd worked with both of them on and off for years and was surprised she was even allowed to go for a piss by herself. Mitchell, especially, had an over-protective streak a mile wide.

He closed his eyes. He'd been the first to reach her, strapped naked to a gurney. Evan had shucked off his jacket and thrown it over her before the others could see, jumping a little when Mitchell had appeared beside him. Pulling a blanket from a pack he'd silently handed it to Evan. Covering her, he'd slid his arms underneath her body and she'd tried to fight him off. She'd been so weak, so different from the marine who'd laughingly dropped him to the mat time and again during their sparring sessions.

Evan groaned when there was a knock at his door. "Come in"

Colonel Mitchell appeared in his doorway.

"Sir?"

Mitchell waved his hand. "Drop the Sir Lorne. If there was any justice in this fucked up world you'd be Colonel by now"

Lorne sighed. "Try telling that to the IOA who seem to insist on pulling me into meetings every fucking week to explain decisions I made over a year ago"

The other man snorted "You should tell O'Neill. He loves telling them to go screw themselves"

Lorne grinned at him. "Was there something you needed?"

"Another meeting I'm afraid. We're going over new intel retrieved by the teams who were out last night"

"Great"

Mitchell closed the door and moved into the room. Evan raised his brows.

"You and Cadman. This going to affect your work on the investigation?"

"Does the fact your pregnant girlfriend was taken affect yours..Sir?"

Mitchell frowned at him. "One. How the fuck do you know that? Two. Of course it fucking does. I'm going to enjoy tearing apart whoever these fuckers are"

Evan nodded. "One. Cadman told me, bollock her and I'll shoot you. Two. Same as yours" 

The Colonel grinned at him "Welcome back Ev"

 

Laney sat cross legged at the bottom of her friends bed. "He likes you. A lot"

Laura rolled her eyes. "I haven't seen him in nearly a year Lane. And having him rescue my naked arse was not how I envisioned the first time I'd see him again. It's a little embarrassing"

"Right. Getting naked on the first date is kind of whoreish"

Laura flipped her off.

"I'm serious Lane. It's weird, I don't know what to say"

"Uh, 'thanks for rescuing my naked arse and, by the way, what did you think of it?'"

Lieutenant Edwards snorted from two beds down.

"Butt out Edwards"

"Then keep your voices down ladies"

"Ladies?"

He grinned at them. "Cadman, the only time he's left your side is when your teammates have come in and told him to fuck off. He likes you, naked arse and all" Edwards let his eyes wander "Don't blame him"

"Hey!"

"Don't make me beat you Edwards….or tell Major Lorne you're eyeing up his Lieutenant"

"Shut up Lane. I'm not his. AND I'm quite capable of beating Edwards' arse all on my own" Laura looked thoughtful "Well, maybe in a couple of weeks, then you're in for a world of pain"

Edwards chuckled "Sure Cadman, whatever you say"

She glared at him. "So, what do I do"

Laney reached out to touch her arm. "Get better, let yourself heal. Then drag him to a bar whilst wearing that 'dare you not to fuck me' dress you've got hanging in your wardrobe and get him really fucking drunk"

"I'm insulted you think I need to get him drunk"

"He rescued you. I find this brings out a certain amount of protectiveness and can delay sexual gratification"

Edwards snorted "So..whats this dress look like?" 

 

General O'Neill looked at the people sat around the table in the briefing room. He rubbed his forehead.

"So, these fuckers who have been targeting our people, they're IOA?"

"Not officially Sir. They've all handed in their resignations at some point in the last six months. It appears that there were a certain number of IOA personnel who believed we were withholding certain information from them, along with potential financial assets. They seemed to think we were 'doing them out of their cut'. When Woolsey refused to believe them or take steps to investigate they decided to separate from the IOA and go about collecting intel on their own"

"And they decided to do this by kidnapping my staff?!"

"They did attempt to hack our systems first, and put people in place inside the mountain. When both of these methods failed they became desperate" Colonel Carter looked at him "Their first target was Laney, she was on SG-1, your goddaughter and living with Colonel Mitchell and Lt Colonel Sheppard. They decided that she would have access to the information they wanted, and if she didn't she was valuable enough to be used as leverage"

"Leverage?" echoed Mitchell

Carter smiled apologetically at him.

"It seems Woolsey stuck to his word and none of the staff at the IOA knew about the Slayer. They lost seven people trying to get information out of her, and lost their advantage of no one suspecting anything. Once they found their dead colleagues and an empty gurney they changed their next target to Lieutenant Cadman" She paused.

Jack sighed "I think I'm gonna be pissed at the next bit"

"They had already identified Laney's social circle as part of their standard recon. When Laney escaped and left evidence of her, um, skills behind her they became curious. They placed a watch on each of the three women on SG-22. Vala spent the entire next day at the mountain, Lieutenant Cole was with Captain Winchester, Laura was at home alone"

"So, it could have been any of them"

Carter nodded.

"Fuck" Jack scraped his hands through his hair. "Do we have them all?"

"Yes Sir. The first team we captured folded pretty fast. Gave us names and locations. We've cross checked the list with Woolsey's records. He's pissed too. He's coming down tomorrow morning to talk to you and offer an apology. It seems he didn't realise that these people were intending to act on their beliefs. And he has no idea how they got the equipment to do it"

Jack nodded. "We can work on that together tomorrow"

He looked around the room. "I don't want to find any of you anywhere near the holding cells. This is going to be dealt with properly, officially"

"Yes Sir"

"Good. You're dismissed. Colonel Mitchell, Lt Colonel Sheppard, Major Evan Lorne, Captain Winchester, stay where you are please"

As the last person shut the door he turned to them.

"I'm leaving it up to you to inform the members of SG-22 of what we were told today. I would suggest doing it from a safe distance, possibly with an armed guard"

Dean grinned.

"They're gonna be pissed gentlemen, and they're not exactly fucking green cadets. I'm pretty sure I'm only still in charge here 'cause none of them can be arsed with the paperwork that comes with the job"

Mitchell snorted. Jack glared at him.

"Keep it short, keep it light. Make it clear I will have them shot on sight if they turn up at the cells. You all have tomorrow off. Now fuck off out of my meeting room"

"Yes Sir"

 

Lt Colonel Sheppard stuck his head round the infirmary door and grinned as he saw Laney smiling and chatting with Cadman. They appeared to be ganging up on Lieutenant Edwards.

He strolled in "Time to go home sweetheart"

She looked up and then past him. She grinned "Are we leaving Mitchell behind tonight?"

"Yeah, I thought we'd ditch him and have wild sex all over the apartment, just the two of us"

Laura made a gagging noise "Not what I need to hear guys"

"I could stand to hear some more" 

"Shut up Edwards"

John smirked at him "You haven't been trying to keep up with these two have you Lieutenant?"

"Trying being the operative word Sir" Laura grinned at him.

"I see you're feeling a little better Cadman"

"Yep, road to recovery and all that"

"She has an excellent motivator"

John raised his brows. "Is that so?"

"Yep. Wild sex with Lorne"

"Laney!"

"What?"

"I hate you"

"No you don't"

John dragged Laney out of the infirmary. "You know, Lorne may not want wild sex with Laura?"

She turned to look at him. "Everyone wants wild sex with Laura. I think it's the hair"

He smirked at her "Do you want wild sex with Laura"

"Do you?"

"Does he what?"

They turned to Mitchell. "Want wild sex with Lieutenant Cadman"

Mitchell snorted. "Everyone wants that"

 

Cameron leant against the counter and watched them. Laney was in her usual place, curled up on John's lap, his fingers tracing light swirls over her stomach. They were both studying the laptop in front of them.

"Oooh I like that one"

John huffed "You would"

Cam moved behind them, resting his hands on the other mans shoulders. "Jesus Lane, we don't need a fucking mansion"

She turned to look at him. "You knocked up a millionaire Colonel, live a little"

He rolled his eyes. "We're going in even Princess"

She opened her mouth to retort when her phone rang.

"Hello?"

Pause.

"Oh, hey. Whats up?"

Slightly longer pause.

"Why are you whispering?"

John looked up at Cam and raised his eyebrows. Cam rolled his eyes in reply.

"Um, what finger?"

John grinned at him. Cam narrowed his gaze.

"Ok, just give me a minute"

She wriggled out of John's grasp and padded towards the living room.

"Everything alright Princess?"

She rolled her eyes at him and waved a hand in his direction.

 

"Laney?" hissed Sarah down the phone.

"Yeah I'm here. Just getting out of earshot"

"What the fuck am I gonna do?"

"Well, for a start you could stop being a crazy person who's locked themselves in their boyfriends bathroom to have a panic attack"

"Fuck you"

"Hey, YOU called me remember?"

"Keep your voice down"

"He can't hear me you idiot"

Sarah exhaled down the phone. "Right. Shit, help me out here Lane"

"Get your crazy arse out of his bathroom, act normal, have mind blowing sex. I'll call Val and we'll be at yours in the morning"

"I don't think so Princess. It's our day off tomorrow"

She glared at Cameron. "Now who's eavesdropping"

He folded his arms across his chest.

"It's important"

"So is our day off"

"I'll only be an hour"

Sarah hissed at her down the phone.

"Maybe two"

He narrowed his gaze. "Fine, but not too early"

"I'll be there at ten hon"

 

Vala wriggled to the side and reached for her phone.

"Leave it" he growled.

"It's one of the girls"

"Psychic now, are we?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's their ringtone"

"Whoever taught you how to use that thing I'm going to have shot"

Vala grinned.

"Hello?"

She raised an elegant brow. "Really?"

"Uh huh"

"Yeah, I'll be there. See you tomorrow darling"

Vala shifted back underneath him. "You may continue"

"Gee, thanks"

General O'Neill dipped his head and pressed his lips to hers. Sliding her legs up his body and wrapping them around him she gave a small sigh of pleasure as he rolled his hips and pushed his way inside of her.

 

Laura prised her eyes open. The smell of antiseptic and the feel of crisp sheets beneath her made her breath hitch in panic.

"Hey it's ok. You're in the infirmary, at the SGC" His hand slid over hers.

"Sir"

He hissed in a breath. "Drop the sir Laura"

She licked her lips. "Evan?"

"Yeah, I'm here"

"You should be sleeping"

"Can't"

Laura tried to gather her thoughts. "Evan?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for rescuing my naked arse"

He huffed a laugh. "You're welcome"

He circled his thumb over the back of her hand. "We got them"

She nodded.

"They were former IOA members. They took Laney because…."

Laura let his words drift over her, concentrating on the warm patterns his thumb was drawing on the back of her hand.

 

The three women sat on Sarah's bed cupping mugs of coffee. There was an open doughnut box in the middle of them.

"Why did I need to buy twelve?"

"Because your best friend is a Slayer, and pregnant. And she left two hot, naked men in bed this morning so she could talk you through your breakdown"

Vala snorted.

"Also Val's a pig"

"Bite me"

Laney tilted her head. "So, tell all"

Sarah sighed and scraped her hand through her hair. "I was fighting off a headache all day yesterday and when I got to Dean's it just seemed to get worse. I remembered seeing aspirin in his bathroom cabinet so I went looking for it. I was rummaging around and my hand hit this box. I should've just left it, but oh no, not me, nosy bitch"

Vala grinned.

"I pulled it out and opened it. And there was this ring. It's fucking gorgeous and the diamond is so sparkly, and I'm such a fucking girl. I slipped it onto my middle finger but it wouldn't go all the way down, so I moved it to the next one and it just slid on. Perfect fit. And then I'm standing there, in his bathroom, with this ring on my left hand glinting in the light. And then I threw up"

"Shit Sarah"

She nodded sadly. "Yeah, I know. I mean, what the fuck? Most women would be jumping for fucking joy and I'm there with my head down the toilet. Then I thought maybe it wasn't for me. Maybe it was bought for an old girlfriend and he just couldn't bring himself to get rid of it. And then I wanted to hunt her down and kick her arse"

Laney snorted.

"But then I thought how many women have exactly the same ring size" She sighed again. "I know there were a lot of women before me, even before you" She gestured at Laney. "Hell, maybe it was meant for you"

"Yeah, definitely not honey. Sex was awesome but we nearly killed each other after about five minutes of normal conversation"

"Didn't need to know that, thanks"

"You brought it up"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "What the fuck am I going to do? If it is for me I'm probably going to vomit all over him as soon as I see it. And if it's not for me I'm gonna be really pissed"

Vala touched her arm. "Do you want it to be for someone else? Do you want one day for you not to be together and watch him with someone else?"

"I feel sick again"

The other woman nodded. "Then you have your answer. Commitment is terrifying, I understand. I have run away from it many times. But you will never forgive yourself if you lose this. Lose him"

Laney nodded. "Maybe it's a good thing you found it now. It'll give you time to get used to the idea before he asks you. You can work on your gag reflex" She smirked at her.

"You're a dirty bitch you know that"

"How do you think I keep two Colonels in line?"

"Wrong, on so many levels"

Vala snorted then looked serious. "The way he looks at you? This ring is yours. Enjoy the feeling of having someone who sees only you, who wishes you to be the only one he may touch, the one he comes home to"

"Plus he's hot and has awesome moves"

Sarah grinned at Laney "Yeah, not a bad way to spend the rest of my life"

"Yep" Laney turned to Vala. "So, now that's sorted, how long have you been screwing my godfather?"

Sarah choked on her coffee.

 

Laney lay back in the tub and sighed. She'd ended up being at Sarah's for nearly three hours. When she got home they'd glared at her from the kitchen table. Shrugging she'd left them to their strop and run herself a bath.

She closed her eyes and sank further into the hot water. The look on Vala's face had made her wish she'd bought a camera with her.

"How long have you known?"

Laney checked her watch "About fifty-nine minutes"

Vala had arched her brows. Laney shrugged. "You must have done something different this time"

The other woman closed her eyes. "This morning" she murmured.

Laney nodded. "Yeah, that'll do it. I probably haven't been around either of you so soon after until today"

Sarah grabbed a doughnut. "You know it's kinda creepy you can do that. Doesn't it freak you out smelling who's screwing who?"

"You learn to block most of it out. But people who I care about, who I spend a lot of time with kinda stand out. If John or Cam ever stray they'd have to wash in fucking bleach, several times"

Vala smirked. "They know that?"

"Nope. I'm keeping it as a surprise"

Sarah snorted.

Vala eyed her nervously. "About three months. Yes, I like him. No, I'm not going to do a runner. Yes, I understand I will wake up on fire if I hurt him"

Sarah snorted again.

Laney nodded. "Good. I'm sure a smart lady like yourself knows I'll be able to tell if there's anything wrong?"

Vala nodded.

Laney smiled at her and put her hand over hers. "I'm happy for you hon. Take care of him. Try not to break him"

Vala flushed. "Shit Lane"

 

The bathroom door opened and she inhaled discreetly. "Cameron, is there something you need?"

"You know that still freaks me out"

She looked at him. "If you were prepared to practice you could do it too"

"Not sure I want to be able to Princess"

"Yeah, it has it's downsides"

John appeared in the doorway. "What has it's downsides?"

"Having super smelling power"

He grinned at her and moved to sit on the side of the tub. "And they are?"

She shifted slightly and looked at him. "Vala's screwing Jack"

They both looked at her, mouths slightly open. She smirked at them "Catching flies gentlemen?"

Cam blinked. "And you know this because you could, uh…" he waved his hand.

"Yep" She grinned at them "If I closed my eyes it was like he was there in the room"

"Shit"

"I'm not sure what's disturbing me most. The fact my boss is bedding my ex or that you can tell that by sense of smell alone"

She rolled her eyes.

John shifted on the side of the tub "So, um, you'd be able to tell if we were, um…?"

"Yep. No amount of scrubbing will shift it either" She pointed at him "Remember that when some hot young Lieutenant starts throwing themselves at you"

Mitchell snorted. "You got nothing to worry about Princess. Anyway, I'm way hotter than John, it's me fending them off"

Laney rolled her eyes. "And modest too. Now was there something you wanted 'cause I'm trying to have a relaxing bath here?"

John stood. "Yeah, ten more minutes of relaxing sweetheart then get your arse out of there" He leant over and pressed a kiss to her lips. "You owe us day off, lie in sex"

She saluted him sloppily. "Yes Sir"

 

Laney sat astride Cameron with him buried deep inside her, circling small figures of eight with her hips. It wasn't often she got to see him like this, he preferred to be on top with both her and John, and she was planning on making the most of it.

"Laney" he murmured "If you don't get on with it I'll flip us"

She raised an eyebrow at him and leant forward, pushing her hips into his. He groaned. Dipping her mouth to his ear she whispered "I think you need to learn a little patience Colonel Mitchell"

"Excuse me"

She sat back up, rolling her hips.

"Fuck Lane, move will you"

"And also to let go of that iron clad control of yours. You're MY ride"

John huffed a laugh by the side of them. Cam narrowed his eyes. The she tightened her leg muscles, gripping his thighs in place and pushed down with a hand just above where they joined. He tried to thrust his hips but couldn't move. "Fuck"

"When I'm done"

Moving up his length a fraction she slid her free hand down between her legs and, closing her eyes, began to draw small circles with her finger. She let her mind wander, remembering their touch, light caresses over her skin. The way their mouths felt on her breasts and in between her legs. Their tongues running up her folds, circling her, making her hot and wet, quivering around them. She moaned quietly and tipped back her head.

She heard Cam exhale "Shit Laney"

She hummed and sped up her circling. Delving deeper into her memories, she allowed her body to feel them, the way they slid into her. Small, gentle thrusts and strong, demanding ones. Burying themselves deep inside of her, taking her, filling her. 

Laney increased the pressure of her movements and fought the urge to rock her hips with every ounce of control she had left. She knew she was rippling around him now, squeezing him tighter, drawing him in.

"God baby, please"

She whispered his name and and finally lost her grip on his hips as her body tensed and wave after wave of pleasure hit her.

Then he was pulling her down to him so he could take her nipple into his mouth and he was thrusting up into her. Laney cursed as she felt her body responding again, her hips pushing down to meet his and her muscles tensing.

He growled in her ear. "Yeah, come on me again baby, show me how much you want this. How much you want us"

She whimpered and gripped the sheets either side of his head, making tears in them as she did as he asked. Barely noticing as he growled her name and thrust up one last time.

Then she was being pulled off him and laid on her back. "My turn" he whispered in her ear.

Her already thrumming skin was being tortured by John licking hot wet swirls over her breasts and down her abdomen. When he slid a finder inside her he groaned. "Fuck Lane, this is gonna feel so good"

She moaned and rolled her hips.

Feeling his head move between her legs she tensed slightly. "Relax sweetheart. I want to taste both of you"

Cam groaned from beside her. Placing her hand against his crotch he bent his head to her ear "Nearly ready for you again baby. When you've come with John's head buried between your legs he's gonna flip you over so you can suck me off while he fucks you. I love having your mouth wrapped around me"

John groaned and flicked his tongue. 

As Laney rode out her third orgasm she was turned and pulled onto her knees. When John was inside her she looked up at Cam. He'd shifted so he sat propped against the headboard, his pupils blown so black there was no blue left, erection standing out from his body. Licking her lips she ducked her head and swallowed him down.

"Fuck"

Then John was gently thrusting back and forth, letting her take Cam down again and again. Running her fingernails over his balls and gently grazing her teeth up his length he growled. "Watch it Princess"

She hummed around him and stilled her head. Feeling his hands sliding into her hair she rocked back onto John.

Laney managed to hold back, listening to their moans and feeling their bodies tense and swell. As Cam pulled back and came John managed two more hard thrusts and then she let go.

 

Cameron rolled over and slid his hand out to the side. He groaned "For fuck's sake, how is she up already?"

He opened his eyes and looked over at John, who was already sat up and flicking through some paperwork. The other man grinned at him. "You're getting old Mitchell"

He flipped him off. "I've got two years on you Shep, not ten"

Pulling himself up he watched her walk into the bedroom, three mugs and a plate of muffins balanced in her hands. She'd thrown on one of John's shirts, not bothering to do it up, or put on underwear. He licked his lips. "Just what do we have to do to you to wake up with you sleeping next to us Princess?"

She grinned at him, placing two mugs and the plate of muffins beside him. "I have the stamina of a God"

He rolled his eyes and traced a finger up her stomach, curving it round her scar. "I believe the correct wording would be Goddess"

Laney smirked at him and moved round the bed. "Then your Goddess is pleased with you and wished to bring you coffee and muffins"

Placing John's coffee next to him she went to climb over and he gripped her hips. "No sex before coffee Sheppard"

He grinned at her and started buttoning up the shirt. Laney arched a brow. "I refuse to drink my morning coffee with a raging hard on sweetheart. 

She smiled and looked at him from under her lashes "You spoil all my fun"

"I let you have plenty fun" He finished buttoning and slapped her arse to get her to move. She sighed and slid in next to Cam who handed her a mug and pulled her against him. 

"Lane, was last night ok? I don't want us to hurt you or the baby. Do we need to dial things back a bit?"

She buried herself in closer to his side. "Last night was lovely. Don't ever stop doing it" John snorted "And don't worry, both your girls are fine"

"Good"

Cameron Mitchell blinked. "Uh, BOTH my girls?"


	8. Chapter Eight

Full Bird Colonel John Sheppard propped himself against the door frame and watched her. She was sat cross-legged in the middle of their bed, pulling her hair into a plait and reading something on her iPad. 

“John?”

“Yeah sweetheart?”

“Stop staring, you’re making me nervous”

He grinned and walked over to the bed, sitting down next to her. Placing a hand on her now rather prominent bump he nipped her neck. “I’m still not sure about us leaving you Lane”

She sighed and looked up from her tablet. “I’ll be fine. Go, have fun, make sure Dean doesn’t get arrested”

John traced light patterns on her stomach. “Hm, not long to go now though”

“Two whole weeks John, and there’s not any sign of her getting a shift on. I have a feeling I’m gonna have to resort to running up and down the stairs to get things going”

He growled quietly. “No running up and down stairs. In fact no anything. I’ve seen you eyeing up all those boxes in the nursery”

Laney pouted at him. “I still have my Slayer strength, it would take me like five minutes”

“No”

She huffed. “Then what am I supposed to do? I’m down to my last two DVD’s then it’s yours and Cam’s football games” Laney made a little disgusted noise in the back of her throat.

John smirked at her. “I’m sure the girls will keep you entertained. I believe Vala has finally mastered poker”

“Great” she smiled at him through her lashes. “How much can I lose before you’ll be pissed?”

He glared at her. A crash came from downstairs.

“Fucking dog!” Cameron’s voice drifted through the doorway followed by the sound of footsteps on the stairs.

John grinned at her again and brushed his lips over hers before standing. “Maybe you could spend some time training Bronson. I’m sure Cameron would be most grateful”

“He doesn’t need training. It will spoil his natural charm and personality”

“Bullshit” Cam glared at her from the door, rubbing his arm.

“He loves you Cameron”

“Yeah well, it’s not mutual” He stepped into the room. “Now, are you sure you’re gonna be ok Princess? I still think maybe we should stay”

Laney rolled her eyes. “I just had this discussion with John. Go away, relax, enjoy yourselves, try not to knock up any strippers”

John snorted and and went to grab his bag. Cam scowled at her. “Very funny” He sat to lace up his boots. “And don’t even think about touching those boxes in the nursery until we’re back”

“Jesus, soon you two are just going to morph into one person” She looked thoughtful. “Which would be kinda cool”

“Lane?”

“Yes Cameron?”

“Shut up” Standing, he walked over to the bed and leant down for a kiss. “Mmm, promise you’ll call if there’s even a hint of anything happening Princess, and relax ok?”

She rolled her eyes again and gave a lazy salute. “Yes Sir”

“I mean it Laney”

“I know, you have your serious face on”

He glared at her. “Behave. We’ll be back in two days”

“I know Cameron”

Dropping one more kiss he grabbed his bag and left. 

“Sweetheart?”

Laney looked up at John as he bent his head for a kiss. “We love you ok” he murmured against her mouth. She nodded and opened up for him, humming quietly as his tongue swept over hers. She slid her hands into his hair and he gave a quiet moan.

“Don’t even think about it Sheppard!” Cameron yelled up the stairs.

John huffed into her mouth and pulled away. “Next time we just send Cam”

Laney grinned at him.

“I can hear you, bastard! Get your arse down here!”

 

Hearing the front door close Laney smiled and stretched out her limbs before sliding off the bed. She loved them but the closer her due date got the more insane they were driving her. It would be nice to have a couple of days peace without them hovering, and looking at her like she was about to produce a baby right there and then. She padded out onto the landing and leant over the railings.

She’d gotten her own way about the house in the end, apparently a pregnant, slightly emotional Slayer was hard to say no to. It was big, probably a bit too much at the moment but Laney had plans to fill it, with a large garden that was going to play host to her friends wedding in two months time. Her old team would be over later to finalise the plans and for Sarah to take yet another walk around the grounds. Laney grinned, after her friends initial horror at the thought of getting married she’d thrown herself into the preparations with the efficiency of the well trained marine that she was.

Bronson barked up at her from the entrance hall. “Yeah, yeah boy. Let’s take a stroll round the garden eh” She pointed a him. “But no pooping, Sarah will self-combust if she knows you’re shitting on her wedding venue”

 

John shifted in his seat. “I hate flying”

“Right with you man” Dean frowned over at him. “Isn’t that a small problem when you’re a pilot?”

John glared at him. “I’m ok when I’m flying”

Cam snorted. “A pilot’s worst nightmare, flying other pilots”

Evan grinned. “I vote we take the shortcut home”

“Shortcut?”

“Daedalus”

Dean pulled a face. “That’s even worse than flying”

 

Laney sat on a bench and hummed with pleasure as the warmth of the sun seeped into her skin. Watching Bronson chase something that apparently only he could see through the flowers she gave a sad smile and placed her hand over her bump. This little corner of the garden she’d sown with poppy and daisy seeds, and had been pleasantly surprised at how fast they’d grown and flowered. She liked to think maybe her sister had a hand in that.

The guys hadn’t asked why she’d done it, and when she came down here they always left her in peace apart from occasionally bringing her something to drink or to drag her back in when it got cold or dark. Laney sighed. It was one hell of a legacy she was passing on to her child, and she knew one day she’d have to go back to that place and take her daughter with her.

A single tear escaped. Angie and the others wouldn’t be forgotten. Their stories, their bravery and sacrifice, would be passed down through the generations. The Slayer line would continue and Laney would make sure that they were never alone again.

She stood and joined the bouncing puppy, red and white flowers brushing her bare calves.

 

Colonel Cameron Mitchell sat on the edge of their hotel bed and dialled. His phone was snatched out of his hand. “Hey!”

John glared at him and hung up. “Leave her in peace Mitchell. She’s probably enjoying not having you stalking her constantly”

Cameron flipped him off. “Like you’re so fucking relaxed” He dropped his body back onto the bed and ran his hands over his face. “No more babies. I don’t want a heart attack at forty”

The other man stood between his legs and leant over him, hands by his head. “Being a bit generous there aren’t you Colonel?” John grinned.

Cam scowled up at him. “Not there yet Shep”

“Not far off though are we?” John pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “Anyway, we’re having at least one more”

He gaped at him. “One more?”

“I don’t know about you Cameron but if this one isn’t biologically mine I want to try again”

“You’re fucking kidding me right?”

“Nope. Besides, what do you think we bought that big fuck off house for?”

“Um, cause we were in fear for our lives?”

John snorted. “Partly” He ran his tongue up Cameron’s throat and hummed as he was pulled into another kiss, the other man’s hands sliding up under his shirt.

Cam snapped his eyes open and shoved him back. 

“Hey, what the..?”

“At least one more!”

 

“We’re here darling!”

Laney rolled her eyes. She was beginning to think giving them each a key had been a bad idea. “Kitchen honey!”

She grabbed the cheese from the fridge and turned to see them walk into the room. “Oooh, cheese!” Laura grabbed a slice and shoved it into her mouth, making little noises of pleasure.

“Yeah, really didn’t need to know what your orgasm face looks like Cadman”

Laura flipped her off and perched on a stool, picking up another slice. Sarah eyed her friend. “I think Laura’s pregnant” The other woman choked on the food in her mouth and glared at her.

“Don’t say shit like that Sarah. It’s bad luck”

“Hey!”

“Sorry Lane, but not really wanting to be knocked up four months into having lovely regular sex”

Laney made a gagging noise then smirked at her friend. “You have had a bit of a cheese craving lately”

Laura’s hand stopped halfway to the plate. “Shit I totally have. You know the other day I found this lovely spreadable…”

Laney put her hands over her ears. “Aaah no!”

Vala grinned and took a seat. “Maybe we should get her to ‘pee on a stick’ ?”

“Euw, no thank you”

“I have some left. They’re in the bathroom”

“NO, thank you”

Vala raised a brow. “Didn’t Carson do your test?”

“Yep, but I had to keep checking. I spent like $100 on tests, Cameron hid my card for a week”

Laura snorted. Laney smirked at her. “So, they’re $5 dollars a peestick”

“NO! Now drop it or I’ll tell Cameron how much you spent on that cute little outfit for ‘whatshername’”

“Stop calling my child ‘whatshername’”

“Well, name her already”

Laney stuck her tongue out. “When she’s born, I have to know what she looks like” She looked round her friends. “Yeah, the guys look at me like that too when I say it”

Sarah grabbed a can of soda. “So, you finally got them to leave then?”

Laney rolled her eyes. “I thought I was going to have to knock them out and drive them to the airport. Why couldn’t your devilishly handsome fiancee have had his stag do after the baby was born?”

Sarah wagged a finger at her. “Because I am not marrying him with any broken bones, black eyes or whilst he is still drunk”

Vala snorted. “Is it not tradition for both the bride and groom to spend the evening before the wedding with their friends and family members of their respective sexes getting drunk?”

Laney furrowed her brow, sorting through the sentence. “Oh right, yes, yes it is” She grinned at Sarah.

“Not this wedding. He’s spending the night before in our bed, reminding me why I’m putting myself through this shit”

 

Lt Colonel Evan Lorne pushed back his plate and grabbed his beer. “So, remind me why we’re doing this two months before the wedding?”

Dean grinned. “Think she’s sacred I’m gonna show up looking less than respectable otherwise”

Cameron snorted. “Don’t blame her”

“Bite me Mitchell” The young Major eyed him. “You’re looking remarkably relaxed for someone who’s left their heavily pregnant ‘whatever she is’ at home 800 miles away”

“Shut up Winchester” John smirked at him. “You’ll undo all my hard work”

“Dude, just wrong!”

“That’s not what he said”

“Dude!”

“Sheppard, cut it out” Cam grinned at him. “Like I would ever say ‘dude’”

Evan tapped his bottle. “Isn’t Sarah’s thing a week before the wedding?”

“Yep. She wanted to wait so Lane could relax and have a drink. Apparently they’re more capable than us of staying out of trouble”

“That’s bollocks” John took a gulp of his whisky. “They got in more trouble than all the other teams put together”

“Wasn’t always their fault though”

“Yeah, it was. For a start none of them wore the right uniform”

Dean smiled wistfully. “Yeah, that was great, I kinda miss them rocking up in the gateroom”

“You know three of them still do?”

“Yeah, but Dr Harrison kinda ruins the effect”

“Well, make the most of it cause I think soon it’ll be down to two”

They stared at Evan. “Uh, what?”

“Oh God, you knocked her up!”

“Fuck off Dean. I have not” Evan scowled at him. “O’Neill’s started muttering about Vala’s little adventures whilst off-world”

Cameron’s brows rose. “Adventure’s?”

“Apparently she may have uh, come home with something she shouldn’t have from MX3-729, which means we can no longer go there”

John grinned. “Where is our esteemed General anyway?”

“He’ll be here in about an hour. Some meeting in Washington meant he’ll be skipping out on the torture of flying in”

“Perks”

“So” Cam looked at Evan. “How is the Cadman thing going?”

The other man shifted slightly. “Yeah, uh, great”

“Don’t sound too ecstatic will you Ev”

Evan glared at him then grinned. “We’ve uh, met someone”

They looked at him. “Yeah, you gonna have to explain that one Lorne”

He sighed. “You know, met someone”

Their mouths dropped open. “Who is he?”

“Not a he”

 

Laney sprayed her soda over the counter.

“Jesus Lane!”

“Shit, sorry Sarah” She blinked at Laura. “You’re doing a me, only the wrong way round!”

Vala snorted. “Darling, there is no wrong way round. As long as everyone is having lovely sex”

“Evan must think it’s fucking Christmas”

Laura flipped them off. “Actually, it was kinda my idea”

“And his birthday!”

“Cut it out Cole”

“How long sweetie?” Laney smiled at her.

“A couple of months”

“Shit Cadman, why didn’t you bring her tonight?”

Laura waved a hand at Sarah. “This is your thing hon, I don’t want to start doing introductions when it’s supposed to be about you”

“Stupid bitch”

“Hey!”

“Call her”

“Really?”

“Yes”

“Shit”

 

“Well, fuck me”

John elbowed Cameron. “That’s awesome. Who is she?”

“Jennifer Keller”

John furrowed his brow. “Keller, Keller. Holy shit! You’re screwing Laney’s obstetrician!”

Evan smirked at him. “Actually I’m screwing the newest member of the SGC’s medical team, but yeah, she’s taken over Carson’s duties with Laney”

“It’s like living in a freaking soap opera” Dean drained his glass. “A really complicated one, with really hot actors”

Evan’s phone beeped. “Huh”

“What?”

“You won’t have to worry if Lane goes into labour early. They’ve invited Jen round”

“I should have had my stag do at your house”

“No fucking way. We’re already having your wedding there”

Dean grinned at Cam. “Yeah, cheers man”

Cam narrowed his gaze. “I keep finding your crazy arse fiancee in my garden…with a clipboard”

John snorted. “He’s just pissed cause he hadn’t bothered putting on pants the last time”

“Hey!”

“Mitchell, did you flash my soon to be wife?”

 

The doorbell rang. Laura glared at them. “Be nice”

Laney rolled her eyes. “For fuck’s sake Laura we’re not exactly the wicked witches. Anyway I already know her. She’s seen my…”

“Shut the fuck up Lane” Laura stalked out.

Sarah grinned at Laney and waggled her eyebrows. “I’ve seen Mitchell’s”

Vala rose an elegant brow. “Really? Me also.”

“Impressive” Sarah winked.

Vala hummed her agreement.

“You can talk about it all you want but it’s mine now” Laney smirked at them. “And I think you’re all forgetting I’ve seen Dean’s too”

“Shit” Sarah drummed her fingernails on the counter “Who do you think out of all of us has seen the most of, you know, our current partners?”

“That’d be me” Jennifer smiled at them from the doorway. “Perks of being a Doctor”

“How very unethical of you Dr Keller” Laney grinned at her. “You’re gonna fit right in”

 

Dean blinked at the fresh drink placed in front of him and looked up. “Are you trying to get me drunk Sir?”

O’Neill grinned at him and dropped into a spare chair, Teal’c taking a seat next to him. “Thought that was the idea. And drop the ‘Sir’ for fuck’s sake” He loosened the tie on his dress blues. “Fucking hate these things”

“I see your meeting went well O’Neill”

Jack rolled his eyes at Evan. “Should have sent Jackson, eventually people agree to anything to get him to shut up”

Cam snorted.

“I believed Daniel Jackson was going to be here?”

Dean shrugged and looked at Teal’c. “Thought he was coming in with you guys?”

“Nope” Jack swirled his glass “Some last minute lab emergency. He’ll get here as soon as he’s sure the Earth isn’t going to implode”

John grinned. “Can’t be that serious seeing as our esteemed General is currently in Vegas. Drinking whisky”

Jack flipped him off. “After the week I’ve had nothing but a full blown invasion is going to get me back to that mountain”

“Still trying to smooth things over with the people of MX3-729?”

The General scowled. “Bloody woman…”

 

Vala walked beside her friend as they trailed after the bride-to-be. “How often does she do this?”

Laney snorted. “Currently? About twice a week”

“But the garden has not changed?”

“Nope. Apparently when you start planning a wedding you turn into a crazy person”

Vala grinned. Laney tugged on her arm. “Come on, lets go sit”

“Are you ok?”

“Don’t you start. I’m fine. Just want to watch the sun go down and I have a perfect spot over there”

Vala’s gaze followed her friends finger to a patch of red and white in a far corner of the garden. “I do not believe I have seen that part yet”

Laney shrugged. “It’s kinda mine. Somewhere to think…remember”

“Are you sure you don’t mind me…?”

“Of course not idiot. Come on”

Vala sat and kicked off her shoes. “Hm, it’s very beautiful here”

“Thank you”

“I know the white ones are daisy’s” She fingered the red petals on a nearby flower. “But what are these?”

“Poppies. They don’t grow much around here, I ordered the seeds from abroad”

“They are important to you?”

Her friend shifted beside her. “The field where I, um, buried them looked like this”

Vala squeezed her hand. “It is often at times of great joy that we miss those we have lost the most”

“Wise words, space pirate”

“I have lived a long time”

“Yeah, sometimes I forget that. Sorry”

Vala shrugged. “Two lifetimes, a lot of homes, many planets, three husbands” She grinned. “But here I am happiest”

“Really?”

“Yes. The Taur’i are capable of great kindness and acceptance. It was what first drew me here and I have not been disappointed”

“You’re happy?”

“Yes”

“You’re staying?”

“Yes” Vala looked out over the flowers. “Jack has asked me to step down from SG-22, take more of a consultancy role, advising on planets politics, history etc”

“You ready for that?”

“I think so” Val sighed. “I can not have any more children, the Ori saw to that, but I do not believe I would want to anyway, and neither does Jack after…”

“Hey, I know”

“But we are happy together and this way I would be able to travel with him more too. And we are looking forward to all of you providing us with many children to run round after”

Laney snorted. “Let me get this one out first eh?”

“But not right now” Vala smiled at her then gestured in front of her. “Have you returned there since?”

Her friend sighed and placed a hand over her stomach. “No. But I will, when she’s old enough. My daughter will need to understand what it means to be a Slayer, and how important it is that this time will be different”

Vala arched a brow. “Different?”

“Slaying will become a choice not a duty. No more prophecies, no more living in the dark, no more being alone. Cam and John, and all of you, have shown me that you can have both, it’s just a matter of finding the right people to share your life with”

“Wise words, Slayer”

 

“So Val’s agreed to this?”

Jack shrugged. “Pretty much. I thought about making it an order but, quite frankly, she never bloody listened to me before and I highly doubt she’s going to start now”

Daniel snorted and placed the tray of drinks on the table. “It’s your own fault Jack”

“And why is that Daniel?”

“Oh, I don’t know, how about ‘don’t call me Sir, don’t salute, do what you want as long as it doesn’t involve paperwork for me’”

“Bite me Daniel”

“No thank you”

John grinned. “So Jackson, I believe you and Teal’c are the only single ones left out of us?” 

“Actually” They looked at Teal’c “I have agreed to join Ishta at their new settlement”

“More paperwork” Grumbled Jack.

“Jack! Congratulations Teal’c” Daniel smiled at him. “When do you leave?”

“After the wedding of Dean Winchester. I would not wish to miss the happy occasion. He has provided me with great entertainment during his time on SG-1”

The other men round the table grinned. “Yeah, I’m gonna take that as a compliment big guy” Dean drained his drink and reached for another. “So, will you stay there permanently?”

“I hope that the gateway between our people will remain open. It would be enjoyable to continue to see you all”

“Uh, thanks. I think”

“Daniel Jackson?”

“Yeah Teal’c?”

“There are many at Ishta’s settlement who are seeking a mate”

Cam choked on his drink “Oh please, take him up on that one Jackson”

“No fucking way”

 

The next day.

Cameron huffed at the hard-on being rubbed up against his arse. “Hungover Sheppard”

“Horny Mitchell”

“Fuck off”

“Nope” A hand snaked over his hips and wrapped itself around him.

His cock gave a little jump. “Go away John”

The other man slid his own dick between Cam’s thighs and rocked gently, hand beginning to perform lazy little strokes up and down his length. “Uh uh”

“How the hell hasn’t Laney elbowed you in the face yet?”

John chuckled into his neck. “Cause she appreciates my talents”

“Modest too”

“Hmm” The rocking sped up a little.

“I mean it John”

“Your dick doesn’t seem to mind Cameron” The grip tightened.

“Bastard”

“Yeah” The rocking turned into small thrusts. John gave a quiet little moan and sped up his hand.

“Fuck”

“If I wasn’t so hungover, yeah” John added a twist of his wrist.

“Fuck it” Cam thrust into the other man’s hand.

 

“Goodbye hon, thanks for staying” Laney gave Vala a little squeeze.

“No problem darling. Just call if you need anything otherwise we’ll be back later with pizza”

“Hmm, pizza. Better than sex”

“Really?”

“In my present condition, yes”

The other woman grinned at her and made her way down the drive, waving a hand behind her. Laney closed the front door and leant against it. She looked down at Bronson who had passed out by her feet. “Yeah, me too boy. Come on, lets go have a nap, they’re gonna be back tonight”

Bronson opened one eye and whined. 

“Yeah, tell me about it”

 

John clicked on his watch and looked at Cam. “Think we should call Lane?”

“Thought you said we should leave her in peace”

“Only cause you were going to ring her like two hours after we left Cam. I just want to make sure her night went ok” He checked the time. “It’s eleven there, she should be up and about”

Cam snorted. “Of course she is, she didn’t consume her own body weight in whisky last night”

John grinned. “Come on, call her, then we can hunt out a fried breakfast”

“No way, just coffee for me”

“You never could hold your drink”

Cam flipped him off and grabbed his phone, putting it on speaker.

“Uh, hello?”

“Lane, you ok?”

“Um yeah…was sleeping”

“Shit, sorry Princess. Thought you’d be up”

“Fuck off!”

“Excuse me!”

“Not you Cameron, the dog”

“Is that dog in our bed Laney?”

“Uh, yes”

“Lane!”

“What? Anyway if you’d called earlier Vala would have been in here too”

“Really? Should we be worried?”

“Yes John, I’m replacing you with a hot space pirate”

“Cool, can we watch?”

“John!” Cam glared at him.

Laney laughed down the phone.

“You don’t sound hungover, or dead”

“Mitchell looks like shit”

“Fuck off Shep”

“Is there a reason you’re calling?”

“You mean other than to make sure you’re ok?”

“Ah, you’re so sweet”

“Bite me Lane. So..?”

“So what?”

“Don’t be difficult. Is everything alright?”

“Fine Cameron. I’m going back to sleep, then I’m taking a bath and then the girls are coming round”

“Again?”

“Yep. We found John’s porn”

“Hey!”

“Alright baby, take care ok. We’ll see you tomorrow”

“Uh huh. Have fun”

“Don’t scratch my porn!”

Cam hung up and raised a brow. “Porn?”

“Don’t think I don’t know you keep helping yourself Cameron”

“Do not”

“Do too”

“Do…oh for fuck’s sake. Let’s hit breakfast”

“Oh yes Sir”

 

A hand reached round and clicked shut the laptop ”Hey!” Jennifer glared up at Laura. The other woman smiled.

“No more work Doctor Keller. You’ve got an hour to shower, get dressed and get to Laney’s”

She stood and checked her watch. “Shit. Right, thanks”

Laura’s arms snaked round her waist. “You’re welcome. Need a hand to wash the hard to reach places?”

Jen flushed and licked her lips. “Maybe”

“Cool” Laura pressed a quick kiss to her lips and dug her phone out of her pocket.

“What are you doing?”

Laura smirked at her. “Texting Ev”

Jen snorted and pulled the other woman down the hall.

 

Evan’s phone beeped. “Shit, bastards”

Dean grinned at him. “Ok there Lorne?”

He shifted and shoved his phone back in his pocket. “Yes, thank you”

Cam smirked at him. “They not missing you all that much Ev?”

“Fuck off Mitchell”

The door’s to the theatre opened. 

“Come on, time to get a little more sexually frustrated Lt Colonel”

“I hate you”

 

Laura jogged out the bathroom, wrapping a towel round herself.

“Everything ok baby?”

Jen was pulling on her jeans, swearing quietly to herself. “That was Lane, I need to be there now”

“Holy shit! Really?”

“Yep”

“Shit” Chucking the towel on the bed and grabbing for her bra she looked at the other woman. “The guys..?”

“No one’s answering. I think they were going to a show tonight”

“Shit” Laura smirked. “They’re watching strippers whilst their baby is being born?”

“It’s not funny Cadman”

“Yeah it really is. And I bet Lane thinks it’s hilarious too”

“I bet she doesn’t” Jen scraped her hair up and grabbed her bag.

“Bet she does”

Jen glared at her. “Come on, you can drive. You’re crazy arse manoeuvres should get us there quicker….if we don’t die in a giant ball of flames”

 

“I don’t get it”

“Don’t get what?”

“I mean all it does is just make you incredibly frustrated. And possibly more likely for the now very frustrated husband to be to cheat”

Cam snorted. They stepped outside the theatre. Seven different message alerts went off in seven different pockets. They all looked at each other. Cam closed his eyes. “Oh God, please no”

 

Laura dug out her key and they let themselves in. “Lane?! Hon, we’re here!”

“Kitchen!”

Jennifer rolled her eyes. “Unless you’ve decided to move your bed down there that is not where you’re supposed to be!”

Laney appeared holding a sandwich. “I was hungry”

Laura snorted at her. “Don’t let impending labour ruin your appetite will you Slayer?”

Laney stuck her tongue out and took a bite of her sandwich.

 

“Shit, shit, shit”

“Calm down Mitchell. We’ll just get the Daedalus to send you straight home”

“Nope”

They all looked at Jack. “Uh, what?”

“You can’t, it’s already left orbit to go for repairs by the Asgard”

“Shit!”

Jack grinned at him. “You’ll have to fly”

“Fuck!”

 

“Sweetheart, we’ll be home in about three hours ok? How are you doing?”

“I’m fine John. Just relax”

“Relax!”

“Yes John. Relax. Jen’s here, I’m fine”

“Lane…hang on, are you eating?!”

“Yep, pizza”

“Pizza!”

“Uh huh, I’ll save you some”

“Laney, please…”

“Um, gotta go John. Jen wants to do another check. See you soon, love you, bye!”

“I’m gonna fucking kill her”

“Yeah, good luck with that one Shep”

They stood at the boarding gate, trying not to death glare the incredibly slow flight attendant.

“Shit”

“Yeah”

 

Two hours later.

Stepping out of the airport Cam pulled his phone out as they headed for their car.

“Shit”

“What?”

“No answer”

“Shit”

 

Laney smiled tiredly and took the mug from her friend. “Umm tea, thanks sweetie”

“No problem darling” Vala perched on the side of the bed and gently ran a finger down the cheek of the baby currently fast asleep on top of the comforter next to her Mom. “Thank you for allowing me to be here. It is nice to be a part of a birth so relaxed and happy”

Laney squeezed her hand. “You’re very welcome Val. And you were probably far more calming than either John or Cameron would have been”

Jen snorted and made her way over to the bed. “How you feeling Lane? That was pretty quick”

“Good. A little tired and achey but the adrenaline rush is lovely”

“Well, that will wear off soon enough and then you’ll need to sleep. The birth was straightforward and you both check out fine but I’ll hang around for a couple of hours ok?” Laney nodded. Jennifer smiled at her friend and began packing up her bag.

Laura took a sip of tea. “Welcome to motherhood. Vomiting, dirty diapers and sleep deprivation”

“Don’t candy coat it will you Cadman? Make sure you hit me with the full force of my impending fate”

Jennifer and Vala snorted. 

The phone by the bed rang. Laney reached for it. “Oh no you don’t” Laura pointed at her and got up to hand it over.

“Thanks hon”

“Hello?”

“Laney?! What the hell are you still doing at home! Get to the infirmary right now! What the he..”

“Cameron! Stop yelling”

“I will not! Now you..”

“Cam! There wasn’t time for the infirmary”

“…listen to me…what?”

“She’s here Cam. Tell John to not drive like a crazy person and come home, meet your daughter”

“Shit!”

“Cameron!”

“Right. Shit”

Laney sighed and hung up. She pointed to the other women. “Not a word”

 

John dropped his bag on the floor and made for the stairs. “What the fuck?”

Laura smiled at him as she made her way down. “Welcome home Sir” She waved a mug at him. “Congratulations”

“Cadman, what the hell?”

“I was Keller’s ride” She winked at Cam. He flipped her off.

“Oh, you’re home”

They glared at Vala who was standing looking over the landing’s bannister “What the hell? Is Cole hiding in a closet as well?”

“Nope. We offered, she made gagging noises down the phone and hung up”

John ran his hands over his face. “What happened to my life?”

Laura snorted. “You knocked up a Slayer. Who has awesome friends”

“Right, gee, thanks” He gestured up the stairs. “Now, do you mind?”

“Oh no, of course, please be my guest” Laura stepped aside. “Tell Lane her tea will be five minutes”

“Oh, it would be my pleasure” Cam scowled at her and stalked up the stairs.

Laura turned to Vala as the other woman joined her on the way to the kitchen. “You know for a new Dad he’s incredibly grumpy”

“Fuck you Cadman!”

 

Their bedroom was warm, calm and quiet. The lights were dim and a single candle burned on her dressing table, the aroma of vanilla drifting towards them. Laney was stretched out on her side next to a small bundle of blankets, her eyes were closed.

“Stop lurking” She murmured. “It’s creepy”

John smiled and pushed off the doorframe. “Thought you were sleeping sweetheart, we didn’t want to disturb you”

She opened her eyes and rolled them. “Cameron was shouting”

“Cameron is always shouting”

“Bite me Shep” Cam followed him into the room and perched on the edge of the bed. He ran a finger down her cheek. “How you doing Princess?”

She pushed herself into a sitting position, wincing slightly. “Good”

John frowned. “You sure?”

Laney glared at him. “Yes” She pulled the blankets down slightly. “So, what do you think?”

Cam looked down and swallowed. “She’s uh…small”

John snorted and sat next to Laney. “Of course she’s small Cameron, you want Lane to give birth to a toddler or something?”

“Can you do that?”

“Ow, no Cameron”

John pressed a kiss to her hair. “Pass her over sweetheart”

Laney rose a brow. “Ok” She scooped up the blankets and handed their daughter over.

“What?”

She smirked at him. “Nothing”

“What?!”

Laney hissed. “Be quiet John”

“Sorry hon” He gently opened up the bundle and looked down at the baby in his arms, his fingers lightly running over hers, lifting her feet to examine them.

Cam kicked off his boots and slid on to the bed, trying not to disturb the calm. He hummed quietly as Laney leant into him and kissed his cheek. “How was Vegas?”

“Exhausting”

John snorted quietly. “Old man” 

“Fuck off”

“No swearing Cameron”

“She’s not gonna pick anything up yet Princess”

“You need plenty of practice Cam”

He changed the subject. “What you doing John?”

“She’s really cool” He held up one of her feet. “They’re exactly like ours but really small”

Cam rolled his eyes. “Sheppard leave her alone. I have a feeling this is a rare quiet time”

John grinned and covered her back up. “Here Cameron”

“Uh, ok, thanks. I think”

“She won’t break Mitchell” He brushed his lips over Laney’s. “I’ll go get your tea sweetheart, and empty our house of crazy women. Then you sleep”

“Ok John. Be nice”

He rolled his eyes and slipped off the end of the bed, taking one last look at them curled together looking down at the baby girl in Cameron's arms before padding out through the door grinning stupidly to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there it is, sometimes I'm tempted to rewrite it but then I think it'd be a shame. After all it was my first story that I managed to get down on paper (or screen) and also finish, which is one of my problem areas! I kept trying to write an epilogue for this piece but it would always turn into a new chapter with new ideas so I abandoned it but I've still got the drafts, maybe one day I'll actually get round to doing a sequel! I was always taken with the idea of maybe sending them out to Atlantis for the next instalment?
> 
> Thank you for getting to the end and I hope you enjoyed it for the simple entertainment it was meant to be. Now I'm off to do battle with my writers block!


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